Worse, romance scammers themselves often target vulnerable people, including seniors, widows, and the recently divorced, and they show no remorse when developing long-lasting online relationships, all bit on lies, so that they can emotionally manipulate their victims into handing over hundreds or thousands of dollars.īut what would you do if you knew a romance scammer had contacted you and you, like our guest on today's Lock and Code podcast with host David Ruiz, had simply had enough? If you were Becky Holmes, you'd push back.įor a couple of years now, Holmes has teased, mocked, strung along, and shut down online romance scammers, much of her work in public view as she shares some of her more exciting stories on Twitter.

In just 2021, that number was $547 million, and the average amount of money reported stolen per person was $2,400. In 2022, the US Federal Trade Commission reported that, in the five years prior, victims of romance scams had reported losing a collective $1.3 billion. I'm not weird lol.'īy just a few messages later, 'Thomas Smith' had run off, refusing to respond to Holmes' follow-up requests about what body part she fancied, along with her preferred seasoning (paprika). 'I was hoping that you'd let me eat a small part of you when we meet,' Holmes said. But rather than instantly ignoring and blocking the advances-as Holmes recommends everyone do in these types of situations-she first had a little fun.

In January, Holmes shared on Twitter that an account with the name 'Thomas Smith' had started up a random chat with her that sounded an awful lot like the beginnins stages of a romance scam. Becky Holmes knows how to throw a romance scammer off script-simply bring up cannibalism.

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