When it cautioned the public to avoid falling for online romance scams, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was not holding back. According to the FTC, the amount of money lost in this type of scam reached a record high in 2021, with victims disclosing $547 million. That pales in comparison to the amount of money that has been embezzled from victims of love scams over the previous five years, an estimated $1.3 billion, more than any other FTC fraud category.
“Romance scammers weave all sorts of believable stories to con people, but their old standby involves pleas for help while claiming one financial or health crisis after another,” the FTC noted. “People who lost money to a romance scammer often report sending money repeatedly: they believe they’re helping someone they care about. But it’s all a lie.”
In 2021, a person reported losing roughly $2,400 on average due to online love scams. According to the FTC, the majority of money losses that were reported were paid to scammers using cryptocurrencies, which resulted in a $139 million loss in 2021. The most popular method of payment used by scammers was gift cards.
Although the FTC’s report that scammers prey on large numbers of people on online dating apps is not surprising, some people have reported receiving direct private messages from scammers on social media platforms. More than one-third of those who reported financial losses as a result of falling victim to an online romance scam in 2021 said it began on Facebook or Instagram.
In addition to the typical pleas for assistance that the FTC outlines above, romance scammers frequently ask their victims to help them transfer money for a variety of dubious purposes, such as receiving an inheritance or finalizing a business transaction. The FTC stated that although it may all appear innocent, victims often end up becoming money launderers as a result of the procedure.
“Stories like this often set people up to become ‘money mules’–they may think they’re just helping, but they’re really laundering stolen funds,” the FTC said. “These stories are also used to trick people into sending their own money.”
In other cases, victims cover fictitious costs in order to authorize payments that fraudsters never really made. Some deposit checks from their scammer enthusiasts and then send them money, only to discover later that the check was counterfeit.
The years since that 2021 record have only underscored how stubborn the problem is. The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel data later tallied about $1.14 billion lost to romance scams in 2023 — with a median loss of $2,000 per victim, the steepest of any imposter-scam category — and roughly $823 million in 2024. Those figures sit inside a much larger surge in overall fraud: Americans reported losing more than $12.5 billion to scams of all kinds in 2024, a 25% jump over the prior year, with the share of reporters who actually lost money climbing from 27% to 38%. Older adults have remained especially exposed, reporting some $2.4 billion in fraud losses in 2024, though the FTC cautions that the bulk of fraud goes unreported and true losses are far higher.
Investigators also point to a darker evolution of the romance con: the crypto-fueled “pig butchering” scheme, which Interpol has urged be renamed “romance baiting.” In these long games, a fraudster spends weeks or months cultivating affection — often after an unsolicited “wrong number” text or a dating-app match — before steering the victim into a bogus cryptocurrency investment that shows fake early gains, then vanishes once the money is committed. The FBI reported that crypto-related investment fraud, much of it rooted in these relationship cons run by international criminal networks, climbed to roughly $5.8 billion in 2024. Increasingly, scammers are also leaning on AI chatbots and deepfake-style images and voices to make their fabricated personas more convincing than ever. For more on how these international fraud operations work, see our coverage of accused scam kingpin Chen Zhi and the FBI’s warning about the “Phantom Hacker” scam.
It’s possible that a lot of people have given up on finding love online. But not every romantic partner is a liar! There are things to think about and precautions people may need to take if they’re still looking for love online in order to make sure they and their money are safe.
People should be aware, according to the FTC, that no sincere romantic interest will ask for money to be sent to them via wire transfers, gift cards, or cryptocurrency. Remember, they shouldn’t transfer money or engage in financial transactions with someone they haven’t met in person. They should also take full advantage of their social networks, such as friends and family, and let them know about their newfound online romance. Find out what they think of the situation and this person.
Finding the profile page photo of their newfound online love online is another excellent tip. Using images from other people’s websites, fraudsters can quickly create fake accounts. They can use reverse image searches to find out if their new love interest is a scammer.
Even though Valentine’s Day is over, it might be a good idea to stay vigilant for any strange requests from their virtual crush. They should give up and buy themselves something nice if the online romance requests money from them in order to validate their love. Nothing in this world compares to loving oneself. We can guarantee them that this will endure forever.
