Americans Lost $70,000 To Romance Scams in 2022, FTC Finds

Many Americans are just as blind as love when it comes to crime.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently reported it recorded record losses to romance scams in 2022, with Americans losing just as much as they did in 2021 to such fraud.

Romance or online dating scams are a type of theft wherein the victim gets tricked into forming a relationship with someone only to be fleeced by them a few days later.

FTC Romance Scams 2022 Findings

The FTC mentioned in its report that 70,000 Americans reported a romance scam, with them losing as much as $1.3 billion with a median loss of $4,400 - the same amount Americans lost to romance scams in 2021.

The report also mentioned that the scammers involved asked for cryptocurrency the most, with 34% of the losses being linked to crypto-related transfers. Bank wire transfers or payment is still a popular mode of payment for scammers, with 27% of the losses being transferred this way.

Other scammers managed to trick people into giving them gift cards, sending money through a payment app or service, and other products or services.

Despite these facts, however, 24% of victims' reports indicate that they were tricked into giving gift cards to their scammer while only 19% were asked to transfer cryptocurrency from them - an inverse when compared to the amount scammers received. 14% of the reports said they were tricked into sending money to them by a bank or wire transfer while 15% of victims used a payment app or service to send money to scammers. 27% of reports show that people used other means to send money to their scammer.

The FTC also found out that the most popular lie that romance scammers use is "I or someone close to me is sick, hurt, or in jail," indicating that they use their victim's compassion or empathy against themselves to steal from them.

24% of the victims fell for this lie, while 18% either fell for the lie that the scammers can teach them how to invest, or that they are either in the military far stationed far away or in need of help with an important delivery.

12% of the victims said they got fooled into thinking that the scammers wanted to marry them, while 16% either fell for their scammers convincing them they had money, or they were either in an oil rig or that they can be trusted with their private/explicit pictures.

The FTC also mentioned that many of the scammers contacted their victims through social media platforms, with 28% of them were contacted via Facebook, while 29% wre contracted via Instagram.

How To Spot A Romance Scammer

Spotting a romance scammer is quite easy as long as you know what to look for. One of the few dead giveaways that someone is a romance scammer is that they're located somewhere far away.

Common backgrounds scammers give their victims are that they work on an oil rig or in the military and overseas.

Another dead giveaway is that their profile seems too good to be true. A dating profile of a scammer may not have any details listed or that their hobbies and interest suspiciously match yours.

Romance Scammers also tend to move the artificial relationship they made with their victim fast, sometimes too fast for their victim. Norton says romance scammers do this so their victims won't catch on to their tactics.

A telltale sign that someone is a romance scammer is if they profess their love to you surprisingly quickly to the point that the scammer wants you to marry them. Romance scammers also tend to make promises to see you soon or move the conversation somewhere private, like through email.

If you suspect Mr. or Ms. Right is a romance scammer, stop communicating with them immediately, per the Federal Trade Commission's article on the matter.

Talking to family members and friends about the scammer is also a good idea, as their concern could mean that your new love interest is a scammer.

You can also do your own snooping by searching the scammer up along with his story. He may not be the only one claiming to work on an oil rig.

Sending compromising photos of yourself is not a good idea as the romance scammer may use those photos against you in a blackmail attempt.