WASHINGTON – As a part of its position in combatting on-line monetary fraud, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) right this moment launches a five-day digital consciousness marketing campaign to remind the general public concerning the risks of on-line romance scams. The marketing campaign is a part of an ICE partnership with the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC), the Client Monetary Safety Bureau (CFPB), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Treasury’s Monetary Crimes Enforcement Community (FinCEN), who’ve launched Dating or Defrauding, a nationwide consciousness effort to alert the general public to romance scams that concentrate on victims largely via courting apps or social media. In accordance with the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC), 2020 was a document 12 months for love scams and client experiences to the FTC point out that the variety of romance rip-off complaints continued to extend via 2021.
“Romance scams will not be new, however with the proliferation of on-line courting apps, social media and messaging apps, new kinds of scams are rising that concentrate on new audiences and have drained victims of hundreds of thousands of {dollars},” stated Steve Francis, performing government assistant director, HSI. “These scams are a type of monetary crime that may have a devastating influence on the people concerned. A year-over-year comparability via the third quarter confirmed a 48 % enhance in reported romance frauds. HSI is dedicated to investigating and bringing to justice those that prey on harmless victims.”
The multi-agency consciousness marketing campaign runs Feb. 7 to Mar. 11, to assist people defend their coronary heart and their pockets and illustrates to the general public the way to acknowledge the scams earlier than they provide any cash or belongings and gives steps to take if they’re victimized. To be taught extra about on-line romance scams and how one can defend your self, go to ice.gov/features/romance-scams.
Name the ICE Tipline at 866-347-2423, or go to ice.gov/tipline to report suspicious exercise.
HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), answerable for investigating transnational crime and threats, particularly these prison organizations that exploit the worldwide infrastructure via which worldwide commerce, journey, and finance transfer. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 staff consists of greater than 7,100 particular brokers assigned to 220 cities all through the US, and 80 abroad places in 53 nations. HSI’s worldwide presence represents DHS’s largest investigative regulation enforcement presence overseas and one of many largest worldwide footprints in U.S. regulation enforcement.
