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- Trend snippet: Confidence fraud and romance scams result in a near billion dollar loss for citizens.
Trends in Security Information
The HSD Trendmonitor is designed to provide access to relevant content on various subjects in the safety and security domain, to identify relevant developments and to connect knowledge and organisations. The safety and security domain encompasses a vast number of subjects. Four relevant taxonomies (type of threat or opportunity, victim, source of threat and domain of application) have been constructed in order to visualize all of these subjects. The taxonomies and related category descriptions have been carefully composed according to other taxonomies, European and international standards and our own expertise.
In order to identify safety and security related trends, relevant reports and HSD news articles are continuously scanned, analysed and classified by hand according to the four taxonomies. This results in a wide array of observations, which we call ‘Trend Snippets’. Multiple Trend Snippets combined can provide insights into safety and security trends. The size of the circles shows the relative weight of the topic, the filters can be used to further select the most relevant content for you. If you have an addition, question or remark, drop us a line at info@securitydelta.nl.
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Confidence fraud and romance scams result in a near billion dollar loss for citizens.
Confidence Fraud/Romance scams encompass those designed to pull on a
victim’s “heartstrings.” In 2021, the IC3 received reports from 24,299 victims
who experienced more than $956 million in losses to Confidence
Fraud/Romance scams. This type of fraud accounts for the third highest losses
reported by victims.
Romance scams occur when a criminal adopts a
fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection
and confidence. The scammer uses the illusion of
a romantic or close relationship to manipulate
and/or steal from the victim. The criminals who
carry out Romance scams are experts at what
they do and will seem genuine, caring, and
believable. The scammer’s intention is to quickly
establish a relationship, endear himself/herself
to the victim, gain trust, and eventually ask for
money. Scammers may propose marriage and make plans to meet in person, but that will never happen.
Scam artists often say they are in the military, or a trades-based industry engaged in projects outside the
U.S. That makes it easier to avoid meeting in person—and more plausible when they request money be
sent overseas for a medical emergency or unexpected legal fee. Grandparent Scams also fall into this
category, where criminals impersonate a panicked loved one, usually a grandchild, nephew, or niece of an
elderly person. The loved one claims to be in trouble and needs money immediately.