With Valentine’s Day just a day away scammers are looking for opportunities to break your heart, warns ANZ Regional Executive Pacific, Sarah Stubbings.

Romance and dating scams are becoming increasingly common and Stubbings says scammers work hard to build trust and it may be some time before they reveal who they really are.

She says criminals will try to build relationships online to gain trust and exploit that trust for money.

Stubbings stresses this usually starts in the form of an unexpected message or friend request on social media or via a dating app.

She adds that regardless of your age or background, anyone can fall victim to these sophisticated scams.

Stubbings says people should not to feel embarrassed and to contact ANZ immediately if they think they’ve been scammed.