Romance scammers took £4m from county victims

ONLINE love rats scammed Lancashire romantics out of more than £4m over a three-year period.

- BY RACHEL SMITH

Hundreds of Lancashire residents were among the victims of dating scams that cost UK victims over a quarter of a billion pounds, according to new data released by Action Fraud.

A Freedom of Information request sent by fraud recovery experts Action Fraud Claims Advice, the national reporting centre for fraud, revealed that there were 21,976 reports of dating scams received between 2022/23 and 2024/25.

Based on self-reported losses, Lancashire victims parted with a collective £4,033,669 after being manipulated by scammers pretending to pursue a romantic relationship. A total of 554 reports were traced back to Lancashire, making the average loss experienced by a victim in the region £7,281. That mean figure is well below the UK average of £10,324 lost per case (not including Scotland).

Greater London was affected most by dating scams, with residents reporting more cases (2,635) and reporting more losses (over £47m) than anywhere else.

In total, reported losses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 2022/23 to 2024/25 reached a deeply concerning £271,430,524.

Statistics collected by Action Fraud Claims Advice, which cover the period from April 2022 to March 2025, show a concerning rise in scam reports.