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Dating scam guide

Romance scams

Also known as: confidence/romance fraud, sweetheart scam, romance fraud

How it works

A scammer builds an online relationship using a fake or borrowed identity, often over weeks or months, and invests heavily in attention and affection. Once trust is established they report a problem that only money can solve – medical bills, travel tickets, visa fees, legal trouble, a fine, or a business setback – and ask the victim to send money, promising repayment. Requests start small and escalate. The person always has a reason why they cannot meet or video call. The FTC lists typical requests as money for medical expenses, travel tickets, visa fees or legal troubles.

Who is targetedAnyone, but losses concentrate among older adults: in the UK people aged 55-74 accounted for almost half of 2025 romance-fraud losses; the FBI recorded $584 million in confidence/romance losses among over-60s in 2025. Widowed and divorced people are frequently targeted. LGBTQ+ users are also targeted on gay dating apps.
How fast it movesWeeks to years. Police in the UK note criminals spend significant time building what appears to be a genuine relationship before exploiting the victim; US court cases describe relationships lasting 18 months to 3 years before discovery.
Typical routeDating app/site or Facebook -> private messaging (WhatsApp, Google Chat, Telegram, text) -> bank transfer, payment app, gift cards, cash or crypto

Red flags

  • Quickly declares strong feelings or love ('love bombing')
  • Always has an excuse not to meet or video call (overseas, military, oil rig, international organisation)
  • Pushes to move chat off the dating app to WhatsApp, Telegram or text
  • Tells an escalating story of emergencies needing money (medical, travel, visa, legal fees, fines)
  • Promises to repay and becomes angry, guilt-tripping or threatens self-harm when refused
  • Asks you to keep the relationship or money requests secret from friends and family
  • Profile photos turn up elsewhere under other names in a reverse image search
  • Asks for payment by gift cards, wire transfer, payment apps or crypto

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.

2026-02-17 · Kent, England · £28,488
A 26-year-old man who posed on Tinder and Bumble as a gay man seeking a serious relationship was jailed for three years at Canterbury Crown Court after defrauding three men of £28,488 between July 2022 and November 2024. He asked for money for day-to-day and travel costs, promised repayment, became hostile when challenged and used threats of self-harm as emotional blackmail. One victim sent more than £26,000.
2026-06-23 · Washington State, USA · More than $3.5 million
A 42-year-old man was sentenced to five years in US federal prison for a romance fraud scheme that ran for over 15 years. Using the name 'Giovanni' on Match, Zoosk and Christian Cafe, he posed as a deployed military member who could not meet, then invented emergencies (a $150,000 military fine, inheritance problems, funeral costs, tuition) to extract money, mainly from widowed or divorced older people.
2026-06-09 · Western New York / Georgia, USA · $356,500 total loss and attempted loss
A Georgia man pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy over romance scams run via Facebook and dating websites. In one case a persona claiming to be a US-citizen widower living in Norway kept an 18-month online relationship with a 77-year-old woman, obtaining about 30 x $500 gift cards 'to stay online' and eight checks totalling over $162,000; her bank stopped two further checks. Other personas claimed to work in Bahrain and needed money to ship goods. Sentencing was set for 8 October 2026.

The numbers

  • FBI IC3 received 23,159 confidence/romance complaints with $929,287,469 in reported losses (up from $672 million in 2024). (2025) source
  • Over-60s reported 10,188 confidence/romance complaints and $584,032,745 in losses to the FBI. (2025) source
  • Nearly 60% of people who reported losing money to a romance scam to the FTC said it started on social media; $298M was lost to romance scams originating on social media. (2025) source
  • UK: 10,784 romance fraud reports (up 29% on 2024) with more than £102 million lost – almost £280,000 a day, average £9,500 per victim; people aged 55-74 accounted for almost half of losses. (2025) source
  • UK Finance: romance fraud losses rose 23% to £39.2 million and case numbers rose 22% (bank-reported APP fraud). (2025) source
  • Canada: relationship/romance scams caused over $63.3 million in reported losses (CAFC), second only to investment fraud; only 5-10% of victims are thought to report. (2025) source
  • Australia: more than $28.6 million in romance scam losses reported to Scamwatch; $139.9 million across all reporting agencies combined. (2025) source

If it is happening to you

  1. Stop sending money and stop communicating; do not send 'one last payment'.
  2. Talk it through with a trusted friend or family member before acting – police recommend a second opinion.
  3. Reverse-image-search their photos and search their name plus 'scam'.
  4. Contact your bank or card provider immediately to try to stop or recall payments (UK: call 159).
  5. Keep all messages, profile screenshots and payment records as evidence.
  6. Report the profile to the dating app or social platform, then report to the authorities below.

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

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.

Person wearing a white mask

Catfishing and impersonation

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.

Sources

Research compiled 28 September 2026.