Greater Manchester Police urges residents to swipe left on emotional bankruptcy
As romance scams continue to run riot through inboxes, dating apps, and the nation’s collective dignity, Greater Manchester Police have launched Romance Fraud Awareness Week, a much-needed initiative in which officers attempt to stop the public from falling in love with people who don’t exist and definitely don’t star in Emmerdale.
With 148 victims and over £1 million lost in the region this year alone, GMP’s Economic Crime Unit will be out and about this week hosting awareness pop-ups in Rochdale and Middleton, distributing vital advice, leaflets, and possibly tissues for anyone who just realised “Colin from Canada” was actually Clive from Cleethorpes using a stock photo of a man in a yacht.
One Rochdale victim reportedly handed over more than £20,000 to someone pretending to be a well-known soap actor, a scam now being dubbed “Coronation Deceit”, while another paid out thousands to a romantic interest who claimed to be a celebrity but couldn’t spell their own name.
“Romance fraud is devastating,” said Detective Inspector Stacey Shannon. “People aren’t just losing money. They’re losing trust, emotional security, and in one case, a slow cooker.”
The pop-up events, happening in Halifax, Yorkshire Street (because apparently that’s where love dies) and Alkrington Library, aim to educate people on the warning signs of digital heartbreak, like sudden requests for money, poor grammar, and any mention of a cryptocurrency mining disaster in Turkey.
Officers will be joined by CECAS, GMP’s Cyber and Economic Crime Awareness Service, whose job it is to tell people, as gently as possible, that their boyfriend “Greg” is actually a Nigerian teenager with a Wi-Fi signal and an eye for gullibility.
Police have also issued the following handy tips:
- Never send money to someone who can’t name the last film they watched or thinks “Nando’s” is a country.
- Google reverse image search is your friend. If your online lover appears in three different dating profiles and one ad for Brazilian dentistry, you might want to investigate.
- Talk to real people especially your nan, who hasn’t trusted a man since 1983 and can sniff out a scam faster than a border collie on Red Bull.
Nationally, over £106 million was lost to romance fraud last year, roughly enough to buy every lonely heart in the UK a therapy session and a cat.
Reporting from down the M62, we at the Rochdale Times advise: if your soulmate’s phone camera “doesn’t work” and they only ever need money “just this once,” it might be time to log off, delete the app, and marry your air fryer instead.
