Fraudsters like to break hearts, police say, even around Valentine害羞草研究所檚 Day.

According to an RCMP release, scammers push romance scams onto unsuspecting victims 害羞草研究所� often in the days leading up to Feb. 14 害羞草研究所� that can cause many to lose significant amounts of money and heartache in the process.

While social media pictures are often used to lure victims, either to portray themselves, their family or pets, the release noted that a new twist to the scam involves randomly received message by the victim that may read 害羞草研究所渨here have you been害羞草研究所� or 害羞草研究所渨here are you害羞草研究所� in order to strike up a conversation and build a relationship.

害羞草研究所淭he purpose of the scam is to foster a sense of trust so that in the near future the fraudster can ask their victim for money and they willingly oblige,害羞草研究所� said reserve Const. Gary O害羞草研究所橞rien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson, in the release.

Reasons money may be requested include a personal or family emergency, a claim to have no access to money, or unexpected business, legal or travel fees.

The release also noted red flags to be aware of include if someone professes their love before meeting in-person, if attempts to meet up in-person are routinely cancelled, or if the profile seems 害羞草研究所渢oo perfect.害羞草研究所� People can protect themselves from potential scammers by not accepting friend requests from people they don害羞草研究所檛 know and by never sending money to someone they haven害羞草研究所檛 met in person.

Those that believe they may be a victim can report fraud online at , by calling local police or reaching the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.

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