The Mancunian Way: Cruel romance

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Hello,

Happy Valentine’s Day to those of you who celebrate it. And to those who don’t - more power to you.

In today’s newsletter we’ll be discussing the heartbreak over the sad closure of Oldham Coliseum, the rise of ‘romance scams’ and calls for authorities to act over knife crime. Let’s begin.

Romance scammers have conned almost £8m from people in Greater Manchester over the last four years.

A total of 836 people fell victim to romance scams across the region between the start of 2019 and the end of 2022, according to new figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats.

The scams see people duped into sending money to criminals who convince them that they are in a genuine relationship.

And this type of fraud is on the rise with the number of cases reported to Greater Manchester Police increasing from 167 in 2019 to 227 in 2022, according to data journalist David Dubas-Fisher.

The amount lost to the fraud rose from £1.1m in 2019 to £2.4m last year. It totalled £7.7m over the four years.

The figures were revealed through a Freedom of Information request to Action Fraud and covers romance fraud cases reported to local police forces.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a tougher plan to tackle online fraud - including setting up an Online Crime Agency and a real-time scam warning system to check and report suspicious activity.

“Cruel romance scammers are leaving far too many people with broken hearts and broken bank balances this Valentine’s Day,” says Liberal Democrat Home Affairs