Nancy*, a 47-year-old single mother from North Yorkshire was conned out of over £350,000 that way: “I wasn't comfortable, and then I got so far in I couldn't get myself out, and I didn't want to walk away having lost £50,000 or what-have-you, so you keep going in the hope that you're wrong and this person is genuine,” she explained to the BBC.

Nancy is now facing bankruptcy, and although her case is extreme, the average victim of online dating fraud loses £10,000 according to Action Fraud.

They ask you to: Did you know you can do an image search of your love interest’s photo in your favorite search engine?

If you do an image search and the person’s photo appears under several different names, you’re probably dealing with a scammer.

“A lot of the online dating fraudsters we know are abroad.

Anyone can be the target and victim of these scams—men, women, young, old, gay, straight, white, black, Asian, Hispanic… But the FBI states that women who are “over 40, divorced, widowed, and/or disabled” are prime targets for scammers.One of the most common techniques is to build up trust with the person by messaging for weeks or even months before suddenly having an emergency - the fake person being mugged but their daughter needing urgent surgery, for example - and asking for money.But then they suddenly need money for rent too, then food, then medical fees, and it can quickly escalate.If you fall into this category, be especially wary of people that you meet through dating websites.Online dating can be difficult for women The AARP also says that seniors are a common target of these scams.After they form a “relationship,” they come up with reasons to ask their love interest to set up a new bank account.The scammers transfer stolen money into the new account, and then tell their victims to wire the money out of the country.