For “romance fraud” is at an all-time high with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau reporting that 3,889 lonely hearts incurred losses totalling in excess of £39 million in 2016.
But now global exclusive matchmaking company - Gray & Farrar - reports meteoric growth in demand for its service with many new clients saying they have been burnt by their experience of online dating scams.
The company says that as it becomes more and more commonplace to read yet another horror story linked to internet dating, it would appear that single men and women are taking matters into their own hands and choosing an alternative, safer route to meeting the right partner.
With fees upward of £15,000 for a year's membership, one of the world's longest established matchmaking brands, Gray & Farrar, reports that it has seen an unprecedented surge in requests for its exclusive and confidential service, particularly within the past 12 months.
Preferring a far safer approach to their private lives and protecting themselves against the multiple risks associated with meeting people online, single high net worth individuals are choosing a far more personal route and arranging consultations with an experienced matchmaker, face to face, in one of the company's many interviewing bases throughout the world.
Acceptance criteria is strict; and all clients are personally vetted before being permitted to become a member - so there is no room for dishonesty.
In testament to this, Gray & Farrar has never experienced any identity issues or questionable behaviour from its clients, throughout its 25 years of matchmaking.
Claire Sweetingham, the managing partner of Gray & Farrar, said: “A significant proportion of our clients come to us, after having been burnt by their experiences of online dating.
Sadly with many of these sites, it is impossible to know who you are talking to and these 'romance fraudsters' are very good at what they do.
Our business was founded on security and human interaction; algorithms have no place in our clients' lives and we personally speak to our entire 2000-strong member base at least once a week.
We only ever accept clients whose authenticity we can verify and so far from being our competition, online dating websites are actually causing an increase in our client numbers.”
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