Friends and Romance Fraud

Fraudsters use dating websites, social media and other friendship groups to build trust and trick people into thinking they’re in a genuine relationship. Then after a while, they’ll start to ask you for money.

If this has happened to you, please get in touch with us via the app so we can help:

If you are not a Monzo customer, please contact the bank you sent the money from, who will then reach out to us.

Remember that fraudsters will appeal to your compassionate side and give really urgent and emotive reasons they need the money – like to pay for life-saving medical treatment or expensive travel costs to come and visit you.

Fraudsters might also pretend they're sending you a high value gift and say you need to pay fees to receive it. They could send fake invoices or emails that look like they're from a courier company. You should be cautious if someone asks you to pay large amounts of money to receive expensive items, especially if you've only recently started talking to them and most or all of your contact is online.

Never send money to someone you’ve only recently met or who you’ve only met online.

For more advice on how to keep yourself safe from fraud, head to monzo.com/fraud.