DAYTON — Love is in the air this Valentine’s Day, and scammers know that too. Banks are trying to protect people from falling victim to romance scams this Valentine’s Day.
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News Center 7’s Xavier Hershovitz spoke to local banking experts about avoiding the scams. Learn what they’re doing to try and protect people from fraud tonight on News Center 7 at 5:30.
Rebecca D’Antonio met “Matthew” online, and they quickly grew close.
“He made me feel valued, he made me feel heard. He made me feel, like, feel special,” she said.
Then, emergencies started happening, and he asked for money.
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“He’s the victim, and I need to help him, you know, and, but you know, he’ll fix everything when he gets home,” D’Antonio said.
She ended up losing tens of thousands of dollars.
“He was able to disarm me,” she added. “When my scam actually ended, I still didn’t know I had been scammed.”
D’Antonio is far from alone. The Federal Trade Commission said Americans lost over $1 billion to romance scams in 2023.
“It’s becoming one of the fastest growing scams out there,” Kenya Taylor, VP Dayton Area Community Manager for Chase Bank, said.
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