FBI: Texas has second most romance scams victims in US

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The state of Texas in southern US has the second most romance scams victims in 2016, next to the western coast state of California, the Houston Public Media said on Wednesday.

Citing Houston Public Media, Xinhua reported that the FBI said almost 15,000 complaints categorised as romance scams or confidence fraud were reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in the country in 2016 and the losses associated with those complaints exceeded $230 million. In Texas, the IC3 received more than 1,000 complaints from victims reporting more than $16 million in losses related to romance scams.

The scheme revolves around people searching for romantic partners on dating websites, apps, or social media. Schemers then obtain personal finance and identifying information. Since 2000, the IC3 has received complaints crossing the spectrum of cyber-crime matters.

Its mission is to provide the public with a reliable and convenient reporting mechanism to submit information to the FBI concerning suspected Internet-facilitated criminal activity and to develop effective alliances with law enforcement and industry partners. Information collected by IC3 is analysed and disseminated for investigative and intelligence purposes to law enforcement and for public awareness.

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