In the days and weeks prior to Valentine's Day, online dating sites usually see a surge of activity while singles are looking for a special someone to celebrate the day with.

Shawna-Kay Thomas, External Communications Specialist with the Southern Alberta BBB, says a person looking for love can find themselves in the middle of fraud at times.

"We did a study looking at how romance scam victims are inadvertently drawn into becoming perpetrators of fraud. The potential lover now uses this victim to get other victims drawn into the what we may call a romance scam triangle. They're then used as money mules to get money from other victims to the fraudster," she said.

She adds scammers choose this method because it makes it easier to remain undectected when performing transactions through third parties.

Thomas adds there are several red flags people need to take note of.

"They may start asking you for money after they think you've developed this trust relationship. they ask you to send money to them, or to receive money on their behalf and then send it to them, or they many say they're sending a cheque to you and you should deposit and send some back to them. They make excuses not to meet with you. Look out for these red flags, and if you see any of these, you want to quickly end that relationship," she said.

She says the scammer will also try to move the relationship along very quickly, like saying I love you or taking about marriage before it may be comfortable.

Canadians have lost a total of 22.5 million dollars to romance scans, and the Better Business Bureau named this their top riskiest scam for 2018.

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email abouchard@goldenwestradio.com