The internet has changed many aspects of our lives, including, for growing numbers of people, romance.

Online dating agencies are now big business, and it is increasingly common for people to turn to them in their search for the perfect partner.

But as can be the case with the internet, there are downsides, and one of those is that there are some people who just see this as an opportunity to con others out of cash.

Figures from Action Fraud, the national fraud reporting centre, show a six-fold increase in so-called internet ‘romance fraud’ cases between May and June of this year.

The desire for one person to find another to share their life with goes to the very heart of what it is to be human, so there is something particularly unpleasant about criminals trying to exploit this for their own selfish ends.

These manipulative fraudsters pretend to be looking for love before trying to get money from their targets, possibly by telling a plausible sob story about a sick relative or through promises to meet up.

It is important that anyone who has fallen victim to the fraudsters reports it, so steps can be taken to make life harder for these parasites.

But it is far better if people do not fall into their trap in the first place. Anyone going online must always be alive to the possibility that the person they are communicating with may not be all that they say they are.