People living in Thames Valley lost an estimated £3.2m to dating scams throughout 2022.
The area ranked fourth in a list of areas that lost the most money to dating fraudsters with Greater London coming out on top according to a report by IT company Hicomply.
But overall the total money lost to dating scammers in 2022 fell to £88m from £97.2m in 2021.
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Dr. Meera Sarma, chief executive at cybersecurity solutions provider Cystel, explained that while on the surface the overall percentage of dating scams is on a downward trend, the complexity of the scams is on the rise.
She said: “Scammers are turning to the dark web for ready-to-use tools, often selling information from the scams back to hackers on the dark web.”
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