Thirty-one cases of romance fraud, costing victims more than €800,000, were reported in Ireland in the first five months of the year.
An Garda Siochána is warning the public of romance fraud, particularly those who meet their partners on dating apps and social media.
All cases bar one happened online, and the majority of victims were women.
In almost every case, the stolen money was transferred to accounts outside Ireland or to bitcoin wallets
Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan says most fraudsters won't ask for money immediately:
"They won't look for money straight away, it'll take time.
"They'll have been the victim of a crime or their credit card or something being lost and they need a small amount of money.
"The victims send it and that's where it starts from and after some time we've now seen they're giving investment advice to victims and that's where they can lose a lot of money."
