Hertfordshire Police has announced the end of its search for a wanted man connected to a gay dating site fraud case.

This afternoon (6 September), the police force has confirmed it located the man who allegedly conned people out of money.

He is suspected of meeting different male victims via online dating sites and convincing them to part with large amounts of money.

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Hertfordshire Constabulary’s LGBTQ+ Strategic Lead Superintendent Owen Pyle added: “We have specially trained LGBTQ+ liaison officers at Hertfordshire Constabulary who are able to help and support victims. Liaison officers can be accessed by contacting us online via www.herts.police.uk/contact or by calling 101.

“Any information you have, no matter how small it may seem, could be key to our investigation so please get in touch. Any information reported will be treated with the strictest of confidence.”

The police force has provided advice on how to detect romance fraud:

Be wary of giving out personal information on a website or chatroom. Fraudsters will quickly contact you, often showing you glamorous photos of themselves and gaining your trust.

-A fraudster will make conversation more personal to get information out of you, but won’t tell you much about themselves that you can check or verify.

-Romance fraudsters often claim to have professional roles that keep them away from home for a long time. This could be a ploy to deter your suspicions around not meeting in person.

-Fraudsters will usually attempt to steer you away from chatting on a legitimate dating site that can be monitored. Stay on the platform that you started using initially, rather than switching to email, text or phone.

-A fraudster may tell stories to target your emotions and get you to give them money. They may claim they have an ill relative or are stranded in a country they don’t want to be in. They may not ask you directly for money, hoping instead that you’ll offer it out of the goodness of your heart. Do not do this.

-Sometimes the fraudsters will send the victim valuable items such as laptops, computers and mobile phones, asking them to resend them elsewhere. They will invent a reason as to why they need the goods sent, but this may just be a way for them to cover up their criminal activity. Alternatively they may ask a victim to buy the goods themselves and send them elsewhere.

-Often, they will ask victims to accept money into their bank account and then transfer it to someone else using bank accounts, MoneyGram, Western Union, iTunes vouchers or other gift cards. These scenarios are very likely to be forms of money laundering and you could be committing a criminal offence.

The police force is also advising people to use the Action Fraud website for more information on online dating fraud.