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Dating scam guide

Catfishing and impersonation

Also known as: military romance scam, celebrity impersonation scam, stolen-identity profile

How it works

Scammers build profiles from photos stolen from real people – often soldiers, professionals or celebrities – and invent a life that explains why they cannot meet: deployed overseas, working on an oil rig, with an international organisation, or too famous. The persona is used to run a romance scam, often escalating to requests for money for fines, shipping, releasing valuables, medical care or frozen bank accounts. Third parties such as a fake 'attorney' may join in, and celebrity impersonators send AI-generated 'selfies' as proof.

Who is targetedOften middle-aged and older women and men, widowed or divorced people, and fans of the celebrity being impersonated.
How fast it movesMonths to years; the French 'Brad Pitt' case ran for about a year and a half.
Typical routeFacebook, Instagram or dating site -> WhatsApp/Snapchat/email -> bank transfer, cashier's checks or payments to 'lawyers', 'doctors' or 'customs'

Red flags

  • They say they are deployed military, on an oil rig, a doctor with an international organisation, or otherwise overseas
  • They cannot video call or the call always fails
  • Their photos appear elsewhere online under a different name
  • A celebrity or public figure contacts you privately and starts a relationship
  • Third parties (a 'lawyer', 'doctor', 'manager', 'commanding officer') contact you asking for money
  • They send documents (passport, ID) as 'proof' of identity – romance scammers use forged documents

Check your match against all 44 red flags

Recent cases

Real cases reported by courts, police, regulators and the press. People facing pending charges are presumed innocent, and private victims are not named.

2025-01 · France · About $850,000
A French woman transferred about $850,000 over more than a year to scammers impersonating Brad Pitt using fake social media and WhatsApp accounts and AI-generated images, including fake hospital-bed selfies. They claimed his bank accounts were frozen in his divorce and he needed money for kidney treatment.
2026-06-23 · Washington State, USA · More than $3.5 million
A man who posed on Match, Zoosk and Christian Cafe as a deployed US military member was sentenced to five years in prison; he claimed a $150,000 'military fine' among other emergencies.
2024-04-11 · North Carolina, USA · Over $350,000
A former US Army specialist was sentenced to 40 months for laundering romance-scam proceeds. In one scheme a persona posing as a soldier deployed to Afghanistan met a victim on a dating website, proposed marriage, claimed to have gold and diamonds, and a fake 'attorney' obtained $150,000 in cashier's checks.

The numbers

  • FTC: the most common romance-scam lies for not meeting were being in the military overseas and working on an offshore oil rig; 24% of people who lost money to romance scams paid with gift cards. (2022) source
  • IC3 recorded $797.9 million lost to government impersonation scams in 2025 (separate from romance). (2025) source

If it is happening to you

  1. Reverse-image-search every profile photo and search the claimed name with 'scam'.
  2. Insist on a live video call early; keep excuses in mind.
  3. Never send money for fines, shipping or medical bills to someone you have not met in person (FTC).
  4. Treat any private romantic approach from a celebrity as a scam.
  5. Report the fake profile to the platform, then report any losses.

Where to report

United Statesreportfraud.ftc.gov – FTC – ReportFraud.ftc.govic3.gov – FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) – type www.ic3.gov directly; IC3 never contacts victims by phone, social media or chat
United Kingdomreportfraud.police.uk – Report Fraud (replaced Action Fraud) – reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040stopscamsuk.org.uk/159 – Call 159 to reach your bank's fraud team safely (covers >99% of UK retail current accounts)
Canadareportcyberandfraud.canada.ca – Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre – reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca or 1-888-495-8501, and your local police
Australiascamwatch.gov.au – Scamwatch (scamwatch.gov.au); ReportCyber via cyber.gov.au; IDCARE 1800 595 160 for identity recovery

Related scams

Woman reading a message on her phone in bed

Romance scams

A scammer builds an online relationship using a fake or borrowed identity, often over weeks or months, and invests heavily in attention and affection.

Laptop showing a trading chart

Pig butchering

A friendly or flirtatious contact – often on a dating app, social media or a 'wrong number' text – builds a relationship and casually mentions success trading crypto, gold or forex as a 'side job'.

Young man looking at his phone in the dark

Sextortion and image blackmail

The criminal poses as an attractive person (often a young woman) on a dating app, social media or game, flirts quickly, and persuades the target to exchange nude images or join an intimate video call that is secretly recorded.

Sources

Research compiled 28 September 2026.