Join us for our first book event of the year and a (sort of) Valentine’s special on Saturday 17 February with Becky Holmes.
Online romance fraud is a problem across the globe. It causes financial and emotional devastation, yet many people refuse to take it seriously. This is the story of one woman’s determination to understand this growing phenomenon. Becky Holmes has exposed hundreds of romance fraudsters online. Her book shines a revealing light on this shady corner of the internet.
No other woman has had so many online romances – from Keanu Reeves to Brad Pitt to Prince William – and Becky Holmes is a favourite among peacekeeping soldiers and oil rig workers who desperately need iTunes vouchers. By winding up scammers and investigating the truth behind their profiles, Becky shines a revealing, revolting and hilarious light on a very shady corner of the internet.
Featuring first-hand accounts of victims, examples of scripts used by fraudsters, a look into the psychology of fraud and of course plenty of Becky’s hysterical interactions with scammers, this is a must-read for anyone who needs a reminder that Keanu Reeves is NOT in love with them.
According to Action Fraud, ’Romance scams involve people being duped into sending money to criminals who go to great lengths to gain their trust 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 might be highly emotive, such as criminals claiming they need money for emergency medical care, or to pay for transport costs to visit the victim if they are overseas.’
A survey of 2,000 people across the UK by Opinium in January 2023 found 51% of those asked to give or lend money agreed to do so, with 8% sending more than £1,000. (Independent)
Becky Holmes is the creator of and voice behind the popular Twitter account @deathtospinach. Having been on the receiving end of an annoying number of direct messages from online romance scammers, Becky started to enjoy wasting their time and then publicly ‘outing’ their accounts. No other woman has had so many online romances – from Keanu Reeves to Brad Pitt to Prince William.
Becky has a first-class BA(Hons) from Royal Holloway, University of London. After graduating she spent 15 years working in public relations and crisis management but now her dream is to marry comedian Greg Davies, rescue greyhounds and write books.
Becky has been interviewed on BBC News, Radio 2, Radio 4 and numerous podcasts for the anti-fraud industry. She is fast becoming known as an investigator of online romance fraud and has interviewed many victims who have been in touch with her through her popular Twitter account – which has more than 100K followers.
