Romance fraud

Victim of romance fraud?
You may be entitled to a refund.

Romance scams involve criminals building fake online relationships to manipulate victims into transferring money. If your bank failed to intervene when the warning signs were present, you may be entitled to a refund.

Check if you can claim →

Free, no-obligation eligibility check. Takes 5 minutes.

SRA regulated
SSL encrypted
No win, no fee

+35%

Increase in romance fraud H1 2025

Weeks

Average grooming period before first payment

Up to £430k

FOS maximum award

How ROMANCE FRAUD Works

Recognising romance fraud

Romance fraud occurs when criminals create fake profiles on dating apps, social media, or other online platforms to build emotional relationships with victims. Over weeks or months, the fraudster gains the victim’s trust before fabricating a crisis — a medical emergency, business problem, or travel difficulty — to request money.

Victims of romance fraud often feel a deep sense of shame and embarrassment, which can delay reporting. It’s important to understand that these are sophisticated criminals who are experts in psychological manipulation. Falling victim to a romance scam does not reflect on your intelligence or judgement — these fraudsters target people of all backgrounds.

Common warning signs

An online contact who quickly expresses strong feelings or love
They always have excuses for why they cannot meet in person or video call
A sudden crisis requiring urgent financial help
Requests to send money by bank transfer rather than other methods
Asking you to keep the relationship or payments secret
Stories that don’t quite add up or change over time

Your Legal Rights

Why your bank may owe you a refund

When you fall victim to romance fraud, your bank has specific legal obligations. Here are the grounds we use to pursue your claim:

PSR mandatory reimbursement

Since October 2024, banks must reimburse eligible APP fraud victims up to £85,000 for payments via Faster Payments and CHAPS within 5 business days.

Failure to identify romance fraud indicators

Banks should recognise patterns typical of romance fraud — such as new payees receiving regular payments of increasing value, payments described as gifts or loans to individuals, and transfers that don’t match the customer’s normal spending patterns.

FCA Consumer Duty

Banks must act in customers' best interests and prevent foreseeable harm. Failure to detect romance fraud may breach this duty.

Financial Ombudsman escalation

If your bank refuses, the FOS can independently review and award up to £430,000. We handle the entire escalation process.

How It Works

How we recover your money

1

Tell us what happened

Complete our short form with details of the romance fraud and how much you lost.

2

We assess your claim

Our legal team reviews your case and identifies the strongest regulatory arguments for your specific situation.

3

We pursue your bank

We submit a formal complaint citing the specific obligations your bank has breached, and chase every deadline.

4

Resolution

If your claim succeeds, you receive your refund minus our agreed fee. If we don’t recover anything, you pay nothing.

Common Questions

Romance Fraud claim FAQ

Absolutely. Romance fraud is specifically designed to exploit human emotions, and victims often experience shame or embarrassment. These are highly skilled criminals who manipulate people of all backgrounds. Our team handles every case with complete sensitivity and confidentiality. You are not at fault.

This is exactly what romance fraud is — the criminal creates a convincing fake persona to build trust. The fact that you believed the relationship was real is part of the scam, not evidence of negligence. Your bank had a duty to look for warning signs in the transaction patterns, regardless of your belief about the recipient.

We operate on a no-win, no-fee basis under a Damages-Based Agreement. If your claim is unsuccessful, you pay nothing. If we recover funds for you, our fee is a percentage of the amount recovered. The exact percentage is clearly explained before you sign anything, as required by SRA regulations.

The PSR mandatory reimbursement scheme applies to payments made within 13 months. For older cases, the Financial Ombudsman can consider complaints up to 6 years from the event, or 3 years from when you became aware. We can assess your eligibility during the free initial review.

Fallen victim to romance fraud?

Free eligibility assessment. No obligation. Takes 5 minutes.

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