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September 27th, 2023
Catfishing or romance scams have become part of the American and global lexicon. High-profile television shows such as Tinder Swindler on Netflix reached millions of viewers and detail how scammers prey on people looking for love online, only to leave them heartbroken and penniless.
Yet despite the increased awareness, new government data found that Americans lost a record $547 million to romance scams in 2021, up nearly 80% from $304 million in 2020.
In fact, romance scams have become the No. 1 type of fraud measured by the Federal Trade
Commission over the last five years with people losing a staggering $1.3 billion.
With all this publicity, how is it that romance scammers can continue to trick love-seekers out of money? As with all criminals throughout human history, sometimes it can seem like they are always one step ahead. Instead of simply asking for money, which is an old hat, romance scammers have upped their games to involve money laundering and cryptocurrency investments, among other tactics.
To try to help people understand the current landscape of romance scams in 2022, we analyzed the annual FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center fraud report which was released in March; the annual FTC fraud report released in February; and trends from the millions of users on socialcatfish.com.
Below We Share The Insights Gleaned From Our Analysis Including:
- A breakdown of where in America romance scams are happening the most and least.
- What the newest romance scams look like in 2022
- Tips to avoid romance scams and what to do if you have been scammed
- LEAKED New Nigerian Romance Scammer Bible: “How To Make White Woman Fall In Love From Online Chat”
Romance Scam Victims and Total Money Lost by State
5 NEW ROMANCE SCAMS IN 2022 AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
1) ‘Money Mules’: More romance scam victims are being tricked into money laundering and facing prosecution. The scammer claims to need to wire money to a family member in trouble overseas but says their bank is having issues. They ask the victim for their bank account information to receive the money and then wire it overseas. The victim has now committed money laundering. The scammer also has their bank information for additional identity theft.
How to Avoid: Never provide your bank account number or routing number to someone you meet online offering to send you money via wire transfers.
2) ‘CryptoRom’: Cryptocurrency related romance scams accounted for the largest losses in
2021 of $139 million, up more than 25 times those reported in 2019. Scammers gain
the victim’s trust, and instead of asking for money, they convince them to invest in a
bogus crypto app and steal their money that way.
How to Avoid: Never invest money with anyone you meet online. If you want to invest
in Crypto, use well-known Apps like Crypto.com, Coinbase, and PayPal.
3) Teens Targeted on TikTok: Teens lost a record $101 million to romance scams in 2021,
up from $71 million. Teens are tech-savvy but feeling ‘love’ for the first time is an
overwhelming emotion. With social development hampered by COVID-19 in recent
years, romance scammers are increasing their presence on social media sites like TikTok
and Instagram.
How to Avoid: Teenagers should never send money or give personal information to
anyone they have not met in person. Parents need to talk to their children and vice
versa as romance scams now impact every generation in the family.
4) Social Media Influencers: The FTC labeled social media a ‘gold mine’ for scammers as
more than one-third of romance scams originated on Facebook or Instagram in 2021.
Scammers create fake profiles, often stealing the likeness of an attractive and successful
‘influencer’ and engaging in romance scams where victims do not have their guard up. A
survey conducted by Social Catfish found that 86% of influencers have seen an increase in
fake profiles made in their likeness since the pandemic began.
How to Avoid: Do a reverse image search to confirm if the person in the photos goes by
the same name as the person who friend requested you on social media.
5) Gift Card Scams: Victims sent $36 million in gift cards to scammers in 2021, the No. 1
payment method. This is the standard romance scam but instead of asking for money,
which theoretically could be traced back to a bank account, they ask for gift cards that
are untraceable.
How to Avoid: If your online love interest asks for a gift card, that is a huge red flag. Never send a gift card to anyone you haven’t met in person.
Signs You Are Talking To a Scammer
Scammers have common tactics that they use to manipulate people into sending large amounts of money. Here are the signs that the person you’re talking to is a romance scammer:
- Their profile has high-quality content but few followers. If you’re talking to someone
online who looks like a model but has very few followers, beware. When scammers
steal photos from established influencers, there’s often a mismatch between the
quality of their content and the number of followers they have.
- They have poor grammar. Many romance scammers are from foreign countries.
Since English is not their first language, they often have poor grammar. If read out loud,
their messages might sound very different from how someone who speaks English as
their first language would sound.
- They make excuses for why they can’t video chat. The excuses range from being in
an area with bad reception to having a broken computer camera. A new tactic is
scammers prerecording a video message to convince someone of their identity. The video is often blurry with poor audio, but in many cases, it is just enough to convince the person they’re real.
- Their voice doesn’t match their images. If you talk to someone you met online and
you find yourself surprised by the way their voice sounds, this is another red flag.
This usually comes in the form of a hard-to-place accent or a voice that is deeper
than expected.
TWO BASIC PRINCIPLES TO AVOID ROMANCE SCAMS
As we have outlined above, romance scammers have gotten more creative in the way they
approach potential victims. But no matter the angle they take if you adhere to these iron-clad
principles, you can most likely avoid becoming a victim.
- Never share personal information. Never give your personal information to anyone you meet
online including your social security number, bank account information, address, mother’s
maiden name or birthday. - Never send money. If you haven’t met them in person, never, under any circumstance send
them any money.
What to Do If You Have Been Scammed
Once a person sends money to a romance scammer it can be very difficult to get back. First, the
the scammer usually resides in another country which means our law enforcement does not have
jurisdiction.
While there is governmental cooperation, much more coordination will need to take place to
put an end to these scams. In addition, if the money was paid in the form of gift cards or
Cryptocurrency, it is virtually impossible to trace.
That said, as this type of fraud continues to increase, our government, as well as governments
around the world, are acting with a sense of urgency to help victims. If you believe you are the
victim of a romance scam, here are steps you can take
- Contact your bank: If you paid through your bank account, call them and request that the
payment is canceled immediately. If you believe your account has been compromised, update
your account information and passwords. Do this across all websites you frequent.
- Tell friends and family, and find a support group: Most romance scams go unreported because
victims are embarrassed. Keeping it to yourself can lead to mental health issues and even
suicide. Reach out to loved ones for support. You can join online support groups such as our
Facebook community the SCF Seekers.
- Report it to the online platform: To help the next potential victim, report it to the social media
or dating app platform where the scam originated to have their profile taken down.
