We are reminding people to be wary of romance scams this February as we approach Valentine's Day.

Romance scams involve often vulnerable people being conned into sending money by people posing as trustworthy individuals. 

The con-artists will often go to great lengths to build a relationship with the person they are scamming, taking their time to build their trust and confidence. 

Often, these scammers operate online and create extensive narratives to justify victims sending them thousands of pounds. 

Last year, figures suggest that almost £92 million was lost nationally to this type of fraud. 

Usually, criminals strike up pseudo-relationships with victims online during the Christmas period in order to scam them in February, over Valentine's Day.

We are urging people who feel like they or their loved ones might be susceptible to this type of scam to recognise the potential signs of romance fraud. These include:

- An individual only wanting to communicate via messaging and text rather than via a dating website, over the phone or in person

- They ask you lots of questions about yourself but don't tell you much about themselves and avoid sharing basic personal details. 

Scammers may also:

- Claim to be military personnel based overseas requiring funds for flights home 

- Claim to have medical issues requiring money for urgent treatment 

- Claim to require money to travel to see you but never turn up. 

In order to protect yourself from these criminals, we advise you to:

- Be suspicious of anyone asking for money if you've never met them in person, especially if you only recently met online

- Make sure you speak to genuine friends and family before sending any money to anyone 

- Do your research: reverse image search profile photographs online to check their authenticity

- Do not give in to persistent requests for funds, regardless of how many times they ask

- Report anything suspicious to police or Action Fraud. 

Simon Street, our fraud protect and prepare coordinator, said: "It is very important no matter how long you have been speaking to someone online and no matter how much you think you trust them, if you have never met them in person you must not send them any money, transfer any money, take out a loan on their behalf, purchase and send gift cards, send copies of personal documents or send and receive parcels for them."

"Genuine people will not put pressure on you for financial gain and anyone who recognises any of these behaviours should contact police to report it. 

"Contact us on 101, via LiveChat on our website or call 999 in an emergency."

Staffordshire Commissioner for Police, Fire & Rescue and Crime, Ben Adams, said: “Fraud is often sophisticated, organised and technologically advanced. In Staffordshire, around 70 percent of personal fraud has an online element.

“Criminals can defraud vulnerable individuals and businesses of large sums of money very rapidly and from anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, this is often the case in incidents of romance fraud.

“If you’re speaking to someone online and recognise the above behaviours make sure to report them to the police.”

For more information on how to protect yourself from fraud, visit: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/