Recently, romance scams have been on the rise in Mexico, where women in South Korea are tricked into extorting money from them.

The diplomatic authorities said that the amount of damage was approaching hundreds of millions of dollars, and urged caution not to be victims of similar crimes.

According to the Embassy of Mexico on the 25th (local time), a woman in her 40s living in Gyeonggi Province recently met a person who was "staying in Mexico" on social media, and she opened up to him by exchanging messages.

The man, who introduced himself as a young man, allegedly reassured the woman by sending her photos of her passport, driver's license, and company employee ID.

His ID card bore a photo of a handsome Korean man with distinct features.

Then this "man" lost contact with him, leaving behind the words "I was pickpocketed in Mexico", "I was kicked out of the hotel because I had no money", and "I was wrongfully sent to prison".

The alarmed woman reportedly sought help from the Mexican Embassy.

But that wasn't the case.

In addition, it turned out that the Korean woman had sent 5 million won to the "man" in the name of hotel expenses and other expenses.

Another woman in her 40s living in Busan also demanded that the embassy follow up, saying, "A Korean man born in 1991 who I met through chat was robbed in Mexico City," but this too turned out to be false.

In Gyeonggi Province, a report of a victim transferring 1 million won to a man who forged a Mexican passport was received, and it is understood that the police are investigating.

This is a classic romance scam, the diplomatic authorities stressed.

Romance scams, which are a combination of the words "romance" and "scam," are scams that extort money from people who appear to be looking for a partner on social media.

Bae Young-ki, a police consul at the Embassy of Mexico in Seoul, said, "The suspects stole money after buying favor by claiming a plausible job such as working in the fashion industry or working in a foreign bank," and urged people to immediately report similar cases to South Korean law enforcement agencies.

In particular, he added, there is a high possibility that the suspect will be trusted and continue to send money even after the victim is affected, so the attention of family and friends is also needed.

(Photo = Courtesy of Embassy of Mexico, Yonhap News)