Romance Scams
Have you sent money to someone you met online?
Fraudsters target people through dating sites or social media, under the guise of romantic interest. Once they have built trust, they start requesting money, using a convincing cover story to make the need seem urgent. If you’ve been tricked by someone you met online, Complex Law can help.
The Facts
What is a romance scam?
Romance scams involve criminals using fake online personas to develop romantic relationships with one or more victims and gain their trust. Then, familiar stories emerge: needing money for urgent medical care, requests for gift cards or cryptocurrency, or pressure to invest in a “sure-thing” opportunity. Fraudsters often claim to be working overseas or in the military to explain why they can only meet online.
The law
There are various legal routes available to recover funds. You may have a valid complaint against your bank under the CRM code or Payment Services Regulations if warning signs of fraud were missed. You may also be able to bring a civil claim against the perpetrator or recipient of funds. In some cases, you may be able to obtain injunctions to freeze and preserve assets before they are lost.
Your rights
Yes, depending on the facts of the case and the type of fraud, you may be able to recover some or all of the funds, either through urgent recalls, which can reverse recent transactions, or through reimbursement from your bank if industry standards and safeguards weren’t met. Complex Law can help you identify the most effective route with the best chance of recovery.
Next steps
The first step is to contact your bank(s) to raise an APP fraud alert and request recall of any related transactions, as well as freezing your credit or debit cards if you suspect the scammer has your card details. Stop all contact with the scammer, and preserve the evidence: chats, emails, photos, payment confirmations or crypto wallet addresses. Then, speak to Complex Law to assess your options in confidence.
How Complex Law can help
We combine fast response with focused recovery tactics—bank recalls and complaints, platform disclosures, court orders for information and asset preservation, and targeted claims against recipients.
Rapid response and evidence capture
We can manage APP fraud recalls and exchange notifications, draft preservation letters to dating sites and platforms, and assist with structured evidence collection and transaction mapping.
Disclosure, tracing, and injunctions
We can request Norwich Pharmacal/Bankers Trust orders to get information from banks, and freezing injunctions to preserve funds. We also assist with on‑chain tracing and claims against crypto exchanges.
Claims against recipients and facilitators
If we can identify perpetrators, we can bring deceit/misrepresentation, unjust enrichment or knowing accessory claims, as well as complaints to banks under the CRM Code and Payment Services Regulations.
Protection from ongoing harm
Our expert team can advise you on how to protect yourself in future, including blocking and reporting contacts, and strategies to protect your identity, personal data and credit, such as registering with CIFAS.
Do you have a claim?
If any of the points on our checklist apply to you, or you’re in a similar situation, it may be advisable to seek urgent legal advice.
If that’s the case, speak to Complex Law to discuss your situation in more detail and explore the options available to you.
Claim checklist
You were asked for money due to a sudden crisis, or to “invest” in crypto or trading platforms.
You moved conversations off the dating site to messaging apps.
Payments were split across multiple accounts or wallets.
Your bank either refused, delayed, or rejected your recall or complaint.
You’re being asked for additional “release,” “tax,” or “verification” fees.
Legal services tailored to your needs
Our practice is focused on three areas of law: Consumer Claims, Individuals, and Businesses (Complex 360), making it easy to match your legal issue with the right team and strategy.
Consumer Claims
If you’ve been missold a loan or targeted by fraudsters or scammers, you don’t have to face the fallout alone. We’ll represent you on a no-win, no-fee basis.
What Others Say
Hear from our past clients
We’re proud of our success rate. Over the last four decades, we’ve helped thousands of clients secure the judgments, compensation, settlements, or resolutions they were seeking.
Excellent rating
Paul W
Ridiculously easy to check and apply. All the searching is done for you in literally one minute. A soft credit check is required but doesn't impact your score. Go and claim what’s rightly owed!
Kathleen H
This is the first time I have contacted Complex Law. It was easy and I got a quick response. I was shocked how many finance companies they found within half an hour. There was no way I would have remembered these companies.
Sidali S
Really pleased with how easy it was to fill out the complaint form. The layout was clear, and the steps were simple to follow, which made the whole process quick and stress-free. It’s great to see such an efficient and user-friendly system in place.
Frequently asked questions
If you don’t find the answer to your question here, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to help.
Romance scammers employ various tactics to rapidly build trusting relationships, including mirroring your interests and using compliments and flattery to appear invested from the outset. The most obvious sign that a relationship might be fraudulent is when requests for money begin – often within a few weeks of meeting. Be especially cautious when there’s a complicated story to explain the urgency, or the request involves non-standard means of transferring funds, for example, cryptocurrency, online gift cards, or payments to a third party.
In romance fraud cases involving loss of funds, the faster you take action, the higher the chance of recovery is, so it’s important to speak to Complex Law or take other legal advice as soon as you realise something is amiss. Once instructed, we’ll promptly assess the case facts and initiate engagement with banks or crypto exchanges. Where the evidence supports it, we can prepare urgent disclosure or freezing applications within a matter of days to help gather evidence and prevent onward transfer of any funds.
Yes, in some cases, you may be able to have lost funds reimbursed by your bank – depending on whether they correctly followed industry procedures to prevent fraud, such as the CRM Code for APP fraud. Reimbursement depends on the bank’s and your conduct against the Code and regulatory expectations. We can assist by preparing detailed complaints and escalating to the Financial Ombudsman Service where necessary.
Yes, just because funds have been moved out of the UK doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to recover them, although it does depend on the destination country and the level of cooperation from local banks and agencies. We may be able to use Norwich Pharmacal/Bankers Trust orders to compel foreign banks to disclose information about the movement of funds and the identity of recipients, which can help us to trace and recover funds.
Of course. We appreciate the need for privacy and discretion in romance scam claims, and you can be assured your case will be handled in complete confidentiality. We will advise you on any reporting or disclosures that may need to be made in liaising with banks or other institutions, and seek your approval before contacting any outside agencies or advisors as part of our handling of your case.
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