19.03.2025
Are you looking for true love online? Unfortunately, honest single people aren’t the only ones who want to date you. On the Internet, there are countless cases of romance scams, where criminals cheat their victims out of love and money. We speak to Carmen Surber from the Zurich Cantonal Police about these sinister scams and show how you can protect yourself against scam artists.
Tip: never do anything rash with the money in your savings or giro account that you will pay for dearly and regret later on. Romance scams are just one of many types of fraud. On our info page “Spotlight on different types of fraud”, you can find out more about the different types of fraud and how to protect yourself against them.
Time and again, fraudsters deceive their victims on the Internet by pretending to be deeply in love with them, when they really only have one thing on their mind, i.e. swindling money out of them. One such case that was reported in the press involved a 39-year-old man from Fribourg. He was contacted online by a woman who rapidly claimed she had fallen in love with him. He thought he was in a relationship with her for years, and repeatedly sent her money. The total amounted to several hundred thousand Swiss francs, but the woman he thought he was dating didn’t even exist. A similar thing happened to a 40-year-old woman from Aargau, who fell in love with a supposed art dealer from England who courted her online during a difficult phase in her life following a divorce. Shortly before he was due to visit her in Switzerland, she received a phone call from Turkey. He told her that he’d been in an accident and needed money urgently. The woman was suspicious, but she eventually caved in and transferred 30,000 francs to the fraudster.
Both of these people fell victim to romance scams. Romance or love scams are a modern version of marriage fraud, but in this case the goal is not to marry the victim, but to establish fake romantic relationships. In romance scams, criminals build up emotional trust via online dating platforms, social networks or messenger services in order to exploit their victims financially. The perpetrators pretend to be potential partners, create a sense of closeness and love, then after a while ask for money or other favours. They often make up dramatic stories, such as a sudden emergency, to urge the victim to provide financial support. There are never any face-to-face meetings because although scammers arrange dates, they always call them off at the last minute.
In the FAQ, you can find out more about typical procedures and tall tales.
How frequently do romance scams occur in Switzerland? According to Swiss police crime statistics, 661 romance scam offences were registered in 2023. However, the number of unreported cases is expected to be much higher, as many victims don’t report such incidents out of shame, due to the uncertain outcome of investigations or for other reasons. Unlike phone scams, which use shock as a preferred tactic, romance scams are all about establishing a relationship and building trust. In Switzerland, romance scams fall under the criminal offence of fraud pursuant to Art. 146 of the Swiss Criminal Code (SCC).
Carmen Surber, media spokesperson for Zurich Cantonal Police.
How do romance scammers manage to scam money out of people in exchange for fake love? Who is most at risk? And what can the police do about this devious form of fraud? We discuss the topic with Carmen Surber, media spokesperson for Zurich Cantonal Police.
Romance scammers are very manipulative and deliberately exploit the situation that their victims find themselves in. When people are going through a lonely phase, they are particularly receptive to compliments and attention. Scammers specifically ask their victims about the problems in their lives before recounting how they have been through similar difficult situations – be it a divorce or the loss of a loved one. Having such things in common brings people together and creates trust. As romance scammers master their web of lies to perfection, they can cleverly crush any emerging doubts. By sending regular love messages, they become omnipresent in the lives of their victims. This makes the victims feel valued and, at the same time, entangles them in a relationship of dependence. But unfortunately, their Prince(ss) Charming is nothing more than an illusion. Victims fall in love with a non-existent person who only wants one thing: money.
Victims are often people who feel lonely, for instance after a separation or the loss of a loved one. During life crises, people are more likely to disregard certain things if they think they have found the person of their dreams who promises them the earth. Age-wise, romance scams can affect anyone who is looking for a partner on a dating site, but most victims are middle-aged. They tend to be women, but not exclusively.
These scams are generally operated by organized gangs, but scammers occasionally work alone.
As romance scammers often operate from abroad and are very well organized, it isn’t easy to keep track of the cases and catch the fraudsters. But there are certainly investigative approaches that we can pursue and that repeatedly lead to uncovering romance scammers. It’s important for us that the cases are reported in the first place. Whether or not the victims file a report depends largely on their personality. Some people don’t want to talk about it, whereas others find it easier to describe what happened to them so that they can warn others. The more cases we know about, the easier it us for us to visualize what’s going on. Thanks to reports, the police receive crucial information about the extent and nature of the offences, can identify fraud methods and connections, conduct investigations and take preventive measures to issue timely warnings about the tricks being used.
First of all, romance scam victims are confronted with the financial aspect of the scam – depending on the amounts transferred, this can threaten their very existence. Secondly, it also comes as an emotional blow to them, because their presumed Prince(ss) Charming has vanished into thin air. They may also feel ashamed at having fallen for the scam. It’s important for them to rebuild their lost self-esteem and realize that they aren’t to blame for the situation – the fraudsters are. Romance scammers are masters of manipulation. In certain circumstances, it may also help to seek professional assistance, whether from a psychologist or in a self-help group.
Romance scammers have numerous ways of getting their hands on their victims’ money. Here are six examples:
Bear in mind that these are just examples. Romance scams come in all shapes and sizes. There are even scammers who ask their victims to invest money.
As soon as you suspect that you’ve fallen victim to a romance scam, cut off all contact immediately and cease all communication with the scammer. Block the person on the relevant sites or social networks. Avoid answering any further messages, as scammers might try to manipulate you further. Make sure you stop any money transfers.
Document all relevant information: message histories, e-mails, payment slips, account statements and the relevant profile with photos. These documents are important in case you want to report the incident to the police. Save this data early on, before it can be deleted.
Romance scams are a devious form of fraud that specifically exploits people’s emotional needs to cause them financial harm. The perpetrators operate with great skill, building up trust over weeks or months and later using dramatic stories to appeal to their victims’ sympathy. It’s important to recognize the warning signs, such as hasty declarations of love or requests for money, and to break off all contact immediately.
Find out how you can protect yourself against phishing on advertising platforms in our blog post “Online data theft: phishing on advertising platforms”.
