{"id":24157,"date":"2023-09-27T10:55:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T17:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/?p=24157"},"modified":"2023-09-27T10:55:35","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T17:55:35","slug":"states-with-the-most-and-least-romance-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.socialcatfish.cloud\/scamfish\/states-with-the-most-and-least-romance-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"STATES WITH THE MOST & LEAST ROMANCE SCAMS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

-Record $1.3 Billion lost in 2022, up an Unprecedented 138% Year over Year-<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 70,000 Americans lost a record $1.3 billion<\/a> to romance scams in 2022 according to the Federal Trade Commission, up a staggering 138% from $547 million in 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 138% jump last year is by far the largest this country has ever seen. Despite increased government warnings, pop culture shows like The Tinder Swindler<\/em> — which aired last year on Netflix — and increased public awareness, romance scams continue to leave an unprecedented number of Americans broke and heartbroken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is a romance scam? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Romance scams are when criminals steal photos of attractive people and create fake profiles on dating apps or social media platforms. These scams can take many different forms<\/a>, where sometimes a single person develops a relationship with the victim over a long period of time.  In other cases, there are elaborate schemes that involve multiple individuals posing as love interests involving victims in money laundering<\/a>, cryptocurrency, or gift card scams. While the methods used by scammers<\/a> have evolved over time, the results remain the same: people are left penniless and heartbroken, with little recourse for justice due to governmental jurisdiction interviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Romance Scams Emanate from Nigeria in Office Buildings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The original romance scam was the infamous Nigerian prince scam<\/a> that started during the infancy of the Internet in AOL chat rooms. Today, romance scams take place in large office buildings in Nigerian where criminals operate using a mix of strategies from Corporate America and other crime syndicates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The office is filled 24\/7 by scores of \u201cemployees\u201d who are responsible for finding \u201cclients\u201d \u2013 otherwise known as victims.  Operating like a mafia syndicate, when a scammer<\/a> steals money from a victim, a healthy percentage of profits gets kicked up to the senior leaders, or the \u201cBoss\u201d in the organization.  Senior leadership provides the new workers with infrastructure, training, and support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Catfish has infiltrated these organizations and works with several reformed Nigerian romance scammers<\/a> who serve as consultants on the ground in Nigeria.  These reformed scammers have provided Social Catfish<\/a> with leaked training manuals, details on how these organizations are run, and will track down information on specific romance scam cases Social Catfish is trying to help solve on behalf of their users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this report, we will take a closer look at how romance scams happen, how they have evolved, and what you can do to protect yourself from falling victim<\/a> to this devastating crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below we will break down the following: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n