HOUSTON – The FBI Houston division is warning people to be wary of various versions of the “romance scam” as Valentine’s Day approaches.
Officials said that scammers target those looking for love online or people they court, building the illusion of a deep connection to then take advantage of the person, usually for financial gain, benefitting the scammer and the scammer’s network.
FBI Houston said the scammers are master manipulators who use careful tactics to convince the victim that they should help them out of “love.” In fact, FBI Houston spokesperson Christina Garza said Americans reported nearly $1,000,000,000 in losses due to the Romance Scam in 2021.
“That’s just the amount that we know about. Many of the scams go unreported,” Garza said.
One La Porte woman, Yvonne Costales, said she dealt with this when she turned to an online app after deciding that it might be time to start dating again.
“I hadn’t dated for a long time,” Costales said. “I know people who have actually met their life partner there, so I thought I’d try.”
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Not long after she received a message from a man who claimed to be “Robert.”
“This person named ‘Robert’ contacted me,” Costales said. “First thing he said was, ‘Oh, you’re so beautiful,’ and I said, ‘Thank you.’”
Soon, he started to contact her regularly with what seemed to be kind and genuine messages.
“He started contacting me every day,” Costales said.
The man had started to appear to…
