FRAUDSTERS are playing on the heartstrings of the lonely to drain them of cash.

Det Sgt Jon Lee of Wiltshire Police’s fraud squad said the so-called romance frauds were among the most dispiriting his team investigated.

“People believe there’s a soldier in Afghanistan who they’ve fallen in love with, remortgaged their house and sent out their life-savings,” the experienced police officer said. “But that person doesn’t exist.”

A police officer of almost three decades’ experience, who spent his first years in Wiltshire Police patrolling Swindon streets, leads the force’s anti-fraud detectives.

His seven-member team investigates everything from cyber-frauds to charity volunteers who drain their organisations of cash.

Speaking to the Swindon Advertiser, Det Sgt Lee said: “There are some very sad cases. The offender is someone the victim has trusted their pensions or life savings to and they believed they were going to get a return.

“There’s that horrible realisation they’ve completely lost every penny, they have no money and we are not going to get their money back for them.

“That’s not shocking, but quite sad,” he said.

Frauds are notoriously difficult crimes to investigate.

But in cyber fraud cases, comprising everything from the phishing emails promising to transform the fortunes of those who click on suspect links, to phantom Ebay listings, those responsible can be even harder to bring to justice. The offenders are based all over the world, operating as part of gangs or on their own.

Many of the fraudsters are based in the United States, with other scams originating from groups in China, India and Russia, Mr Lee said.