JACKSON, Tenn. — Over the past three weeks, West Tennessee women have fallen victim to online romance scams, losing thousands of dollars to who they thought was their new found love.

Scammers stole a reported nearly $50,000 from two local women, just over the last month. That’s according to the Better Business Bureau, and recent reports from women — one as close as Hardeman County — who said they have been scammed out of nearly $24,000 each from an online love interest.

Both victims said the men they were talking to online told them they were in the military, claiming they couldn’t access their bank accounts due to being out of the country.

The BBB of the Mid-South says scammers often use “hard luck stories” to manipulate people into sending money.

“This is how the money becomes involved, so before moving on to asking you for money, the scammer may say, ‘Oh, I’m having some financial troubles. My heat may be getting cut off,’” said Toddnetta Trice, Communication Specialist for the BBB of the Mid-South.

Experts warn that many scammers steal photos from other social media accounts and pretend it is them. You can do a reverse image lookup using many sites like Google to see if the images are stolen from someone else.

Also, be wary of those who talk about the importance of trust. Experts say this will often be the first step to asking you for money.

“Unfortunately when it comes to the money aspect, a lot of the times that’s a lose-lose,” Trice said. “There is no way of getting your money back, but you definitely want to report it. You can always report it to our BBB Scam Tracker.”

The Scam Tracker is a free tool anyone can use to report scammers. Click here for more.

If you have lost more than $40,000 due to fraud, report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, another avenue for reporting online crimes. Click here for more.

For more local news, click here.

No more achy breaky heart.

Elizabeth Hurley and Billy Ray Cyrus looked very cozy on a ranch in new photos posted Sunday after going public with their romance.

The couple was seen smiling and cuddling up against a tree, while another shot showed them sitting in an off-road vehicle next to a black-and-white dog.

Hurley captioned the post, “Tennessee weekend ❤️.”

The pair hard-launched their relationship last week on Easter Sunday with a picture of Cyrus, 63, giving the actress a kiss on the cheek.

Days later, Hurley, 59, shared a video of the two riding off into the sunset on the ranch.

A source told Page Six that Cyrus and Hurley’s romance is “very new.”

“They’ve been friends for a long time and both found themselves single at the same time,” the insider said, admitting it was surprising they went public so soon.

“The romantic side started only a few weeks ago.”

Meanwhile, Hurley’s close friends, including Elton John, are said to be confused by her attraction to Cyrus.

“Liz’s friends think it must be a joke or madness, but they aren’t saying it to her,” a knowledgeable source told us. 

“Elton may not understand this relationship, and is a bit bemused by it. But for all his faults, Elton is really loyal to Liz.”

However, an insider close to the “Austin Powers” star claims Cyrus is exactly who she’s been looking for.

“She’s been waiting a long time for romance,” a pal told Page Six, confirming Hurley traveled to the “Hannah Montana” alum’s Nashville property.

“I think she likes the whole cowboy thing.”

Tennessee bounced back in fine fashion Saturday night as the Vols used a 6 run 8th inning to pull away from LSU for a 9-3 win to set up the rubber game in the series Sunday afternoon. Here’s four quick takes an what feels like an important win for the Vols as May arrives next week. 

Tennessee’s response I — It was only natural to wonder how Tennessee would respond following the Friday night/Saturday morning 9th inning collapse. It was just out of character for the Vols. You had to go a ways to find a collapse like that in the Tony Vitello era. So how would the Vols respond. 

The answer — the way you are supposed to. Tennessee no hit LSU through the first four innings and the Vols jumped out to a 3-0 lead. 

Tony Vitello said early in the year, his question about this team is how would they respond to adversity. They haven’t been perfect this season, but they have been ok. They haven’t had more adversity to overcome than they had coming to the ball yard Saturday night and Tennessee responded exactly the way a championship program should. 

Tennessee’s response II — Leading 3-0, Tennessee found themselves where they were on Friday and back to back LSU home runs got the Tigers back into the game 3-2 heading into the top of the 8th. 

Tennessee had left 11 on base heading into the 8th frame. The Vols couldn’t get that key hit to have a big inning. 

How would the Vols respond to getting punched in the mouth in the bottom of the 7th and the crowd back into the game? Tennessee responded with 6 runs. 

The Vols took advantage of LSU hitting two, an intentional walk. Hunter Ensley picked up an RBI by getting plunked. Dalton Bargo brought in two on a single and Cannon Peebles put things on ice with a three blast to left field. 

Marcus Phillips was brilliant minus two pitches — Tennessee had lost three straight game two’s in SEC play heading into Saturday night. The Vols had bee outscored 21-9 in those three games. 

In a must have performance to give the Vols a chance to win the game and the series, Marcus Phillips delivered in a big time way. Phillips made two bad pitches out of 100. Phillips no hit the Tigers through the first four frames. He finished going 6.2 innings giving up 2 home runs and 3 total hits. Phillips had 6 strikeouts and gave up 4 walks. 

Phillips worked himself out of a big jam in the fifth. LSU had first and third with one out. Phillips got a fly out to shallow right and made a great play on a bunt attempt getting the out at first to get out of the jam. 

Have a day Cannon Peebles — Eric Cain wrote a good piece on Peebles and his improvement as a hitter as the switch hitting catcher has moved into the every day role behind the plate. 

Peebles improved calm demeanor has showed up the last couple of weeks and it showed up in a big way Saturday night. Peeples went 2 for 3 at the plate and recorded 5 RBI’s with a base hit a three run home run and a sacrifice fly. 

Peebles has 4 multi hit games in the Vols last seven outings. He’s 11 for his last 26 (.423) with 13 RBI’s and 5 HR’s.