Romance scams have surged during the pandemic, cheating online daters out of millions of dollars in the quest for love.
In 2021, consumers lost a record $547 million to romance scams, according to a report from the Federal Trade Commission. That represents an 80% increase compared to 2020 and brought the median personal loss to $2,400.
“The data doesn’t tell us exactly why it’s happening, but I think it’s reasonable to assume that the pandemic may have helped to fuel the continued growth by attracting more people to online dating apps and social media where they’ve ending up being connected with these scammers,” said Emma Fletcher, a senior data research at the FTC.
Since 2017, people have reported $1.3 billion in losses — more than any other kind of fraud that the FTC tracks. Fletcher said.
“It truly is a huge concern,” she said, adding that most people don’t report these kinds of losses.
Common scams
There are a few scams that are most prevalent in online dating.
Many fraudsters will ask you for money relatively soon after matching online, including funds to buy a plane ticket to come see you. Some of these tricks are similar to what viewers saw in Netflix’s online-dating scam documentary, “The Tinder Swindler.”
Last year, investing scams also increased, according to Fletcher. Those refer to instances when someone online gives specific investment advice and usually a link to where you should send your money.
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