Thirty-one cases of romance fraud, costing victims more than €800,000, were reported in Ireland in the first 5 months of the year.
Gardaí are warning the public of romance fraud, particularly those who meet their partners on dating apps and social media.
All cases bar one happened online, and the majority of victims were women.
In almost every case, the stolen money was transferred to accounts outside Ireland or to bitcoin wallets
Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan says most fraudsters won't ask for money immediately.
"They'll take their time and then there'll be a hard luck story.
"They'll have been a victim of a crime or their credit card would have been lost and they need a small amount of money and the victim will send it.
"That's how it starts and after some time we've now seen where they start giving investment advice to victims and that's where they can lose a lot of money."
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