Love Scams: A warning from the FBI this Valentine’s Day

With Valentine’s Day just one day away, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning scammers are preying on those longing for a new relationship.

In total the FBI reports consumers lost $211 million from romance scams just last year.

Meet Bryanna Raymond

“I really thought he was my match,” said Bryanna Raymond, a victim of a catfishing scheme.

Catfishing is the term used to describe those trying to lure someone into a relationship by using a false persona or profile.

Raymond matched with a man named “Walters Wiley” on an app called “OkCupid.”

“He was really handsome and really nice and he even started calling me babe and stuff like that,” Raymond said.

The man claimed to be a Fort Carson solider who was deployed to Afghanistan.

“My dad was in the Air Force, so I just have this trust with the military and thought he’ll be back and I can wait for that,” she said.

Certainly a sweet start, but three months went by and the two never met in person.

“Every time I tried to FaceTime, he said his computer broke,” said Raymond as her suspicion kept building, but she still trusted him after he asked her to be his beneficiary.

But there was a catch: she needed to give him her bank account information along with her social security number to file the paperwork.

“He was very insistent,” she said. “Then, a month later, he tried to open a bank account in my name … he totally stole my identity using all my information.”

Raymond’s identity stolen, now left heartbroken and helpless, she didn’t know what to do.

It turns out she’s one of 15,000 victims nationwide who fell for this type of scam just last year.

And that’s not the worst part, as Detective Jon Price explains, with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

“As sad as it is, it’s very common, these hackers will make a whole new identity, buy a new phone number on an app, which makes it hard to trace them,” Price said.

Leaving the victims’ like Raymond left off more vulnerable than before.

Editors note: OkCupid took down the faulty profile.

Contact us

If you have a scam you’d like us to investigate: email Stephanie.Sierra@KRDO.com.