Police are reminding the public of the dangers of romance fraud/scams, which involve victims being duped into sending money to scammers. The scammers often request money directly from the victim, but in many cases may ask the victim to receive and transfer money which is sent from another source, thus potentially making the victim an accomplice to money laundering and/or fraud themselves.
These scammers go to great lengths to gain the trust of the victim, and convince them that they are in a genuine relationship. They use language to manipulate, persuade and exploit, so that requests for money do not raise alarm bells. These requests may be highly emotive, such as scammers claiming they need money for emergency medical care, or to pay for transport costs to visit the victim if they are overseas. Scammers will often build a relationship with their victims over time.
The RCIPS is warning of one such name which may have been used in scams affecting Cayman Islands residents: Andrei Wolfman.
You may have been asked to receive, transfer or send money on their behalf following the manipulated “relationship” using social media, usually Facebook messenger.
If you are or have been involved with Andrei Wolfman please report your concerns to the Police by contacting you nearest police station, or the Financial Crime Investigation Unit at RCIPS.FCU@rcips.ky.