As Valentine’s Day approaches, NAB is warning Australians to remain vigilant for romance scams.

Romance scammers are criminals who manufacture a false romantic connection with the intention to persuade or pressure someone into sending money.

While NAB data shows reports of romance scams decreased five per cent last year, they still remain in the top five scams for customer losses. That’s why it’s vital Aussies know how to protect their hearts and their wallets.

“Romance scams reinforce the need for a coordinated national approach to the scam epidemic, given many start on dating apps, social media platforms or messaging apps,” Head of NAB Security Advisory and Culture Laura Hartley said.

Here are some common red flags of romance scams:

• Romance scammers will profess love quickly to get you all swept up in the emotions. This is often known as love bombing;
• They will have reasons about why they can’t meet in person, such as they work overseas for a government agency, in the army or for a charity;
• The scammer will have reasons as to why they cannot Facetime, webcam or Zoom with you;
• Despite never having met, they might ask you for money, often with an emotional reason why, such as a personal, financial or medical emergency ;
• Being asked to accept a money transfer and then transfer those funds to another account.

To stay alert to these red flags, it’s important to pay attention to the information someone gives you about themselves online.

“It’s important to ask lots of questions of your would-be Romeo or Juliet – criminals prefer to talk about you instead of themselves, so look for inconsistencies in their stories and speak to family and friends about the relationship,” Ms Hartley said.

NAB’s real-time Payment Alerts are also working to help keep customers safe.

“Customers might see an  alert when they go to send money if a transaction has romance scam red flags or appears out of character. It’s designed to get the customer to stop and consider where they’re really sending money,” she said.

Other tips to protect yourself include:

• Never send money or transfer money on behalf of someone you have not met in person;
• Conduct name or online reverse image searches to check whether the name or image of the person you’re speaking to online has been used by someone else – this is a good sign that maybe it isn’t their true identity;
• Don’t keep your relationship secret – talk to family and friends about your relationship and ask a trusted person if they think there are any signs of a scam.

For more information on how to keep safe from romance scams visit nab.com.au/romancescams.