Berkshire has been named as one of the country's 'hotspots' for online dating fraud, according to a recent study.

Catfishing scams also known as dating scams or romance scams, have seen a huge increase over the course of the pandemic.

Fraudsters have not only left many people broken-hearted but also have left their pockets empty.

Research from Techshielder shows that 209 such reports were made in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

This was more than the West Midlands (193) and Greater Manchester (160).

Only London (697) had more reports in 2020.

Across the country, victims aged 50 to 59 are most likely to fall prey to a catfish — they make up 22 per cent of reports.

This is followed by 40 – 49 (19 per cent), 30 – 39 (17 per cent) and then those aged 60 – 69 (14 percent).

The area has been plagued with a number of 'sextortion' cases in recent months.

In March, we reported that dozens of people had been victims of scams in the Bracknell Forest and Wokingham area since the start of the year.

A month before in February, police received reports that a woman had been talking to a man on a dating site, who she believed to be a doctor working for the United Nations (UN).

Police revealed during their conversations, he asked her for money where she would sometimes send him hundreds at a time.

If you or someone you know becomes a victim of online scams, police have issued the following advice:

  • You should not panic -- instead, call the police on 101 and officers will deal with your case in ‘absolute confidence’
  • You should not keep communicating with the scammer -- instead, suspend social media accounts instead of deleting them and take screengrabs of all messages.
  • You should not pay the scammer, as this may make the fraudster demand more money going forward