Romance scams
What Is Romance Fraud?
Romance fraud is a scam where someone builds a fake emotional relationship to manipulate the victim into sending money or gifts. These scams often begin on dating platforms like Tinder or social media.
Victims not only suffer financial losses but also face emotional distress, loss of trust, and long-term psychological effects. Romance scams are highly personal and damaging, making them especially difficult to recover from.
How to Avoid Romance Scams?
- Limit what you share online—scammers use personal info to build trust.
- Be cautious of anyone who wants to move chats off dating platforms quickly.
- Don’t rush into sharing personal details or meeting in person.
- Reverse search their photos and name to check for fakes.
- Never send money, gifts, or personal images to online-only connections.
- Avoid sharing anything that could be used for blackmail later.
- If someone keeps making excuses not to meet, it’s a major red flag.
FAQs
Unfortunately, yes. Romance scams are one of the most reported and costly scams, causing more financial losses each year than any other scam reported to the FTC.
Scammers commonly use dating apps and websites, but also create fake profiles on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. They may send friend requests, direct messages, or claim to have mutual connections—like attending the same school or knowing your friends.
In this scam, the fraudster builds a fake romantic relationship and quickly talks about marriage or a shared future. Once trust is gained, they claim they need money for travel, relocation, or to claim an inheritance. The goal is to trick the victim into sending a large sum of money under false pretenses.