Americans Lost $1 Billion in Romance Scams in 2022
A new study by Comparitech estimated that Americans suffer losses from romance scams exceeding $1 billion for the first time in 2022. Besides significant financial loss, nearly 73,000 Americans were scammed by sweet-talking fraudsters leaving them humiliated, frightened, and heartbroken.
What are the key warning signs of a romance scam?
If you do meet someone online, even if it seems like a natural occurrence (i.e. some scammers befriend people on apps like Words with Friends), look out for these key warning signs that they may be a scammer:
They ask you to move away from a dating website to communicate. For example, they may request that you chat with them through Google Hangouts, WhatsApp, or private email.
They ask a lot of questions about you but don’t give much away about themselves.
They say they’re in the military abroad, they work abroad (i.e. on an oil rig), or they’re helping out abroad (i.e. at an orphanage). They may also say they’re a highly-qualified professional, i.e. a scientist or doctor who’s working abroad.
They have poor spelling or grammar yet claim to be highly educated.
They seem to move the relationship quickly, declaring their love or telling you that they’ve never felt this way before.
They say they want to meet up but find numerous excuses not to, i.e. working abroad, canceled flights, or have financial troubles.
They ask for money. Even if it is only for a small amount – be wary of anyone asking for financial help. Scammers frequently ask for help in the form of payment/gift cards, too, such as iTunes, Amazon, Steam, or Google Play cards.
They ask if they can send you a package. In scams, the “package” gets held up in “customs” and you need to pay to have the goods released.
They say their spouse has died of cancer and they are trying to look after their son/daughter.
Scammers are often blackmailing victims by building a relationship with them, asking for nude photos to make them vulnerable and then threatening to post those pictures on the internet if they don’t send money in return. The same goes for video calls, sometimes only for a few seconds so they can photoshop the victims face onto an explicit image.
The FBI has warned people of a rising trend in which scammers are persuading victims to send money to invest or trade cryptocurrency, just one of the new tactics romance scammers are using.
If any of these apply to someone you’ve just met or certain alarm bells are ringing, protect yourself by:
Ceasing all communication with them.
Talking to a loved one or friend to get their opinion.
Searching for any images they’ve sent you using Google’s image reversing tool. Oftentimes, scammers will steal someone’s identity so you may find the image belongs to someone else.
Looking for scams that sound similar to the stories you’ve been told. For example, if they say they’re in they’re trying to get discharged from the military or are working on an oil rig, look for other stories that sound similar.
Comparitech estimated romance scams and $ amount lost by US state in 2022
California – 9,133 romance scams with a total loss of $193.7 million
Texas – 5,642 romance scams with a total loss of $80.6 million
Florida – 5,472 romance scams with a total loss of $85 million
New York – 4,152 romance scams with a total loss of $68.2 million
Colorado - 1,656 romance scams with a total loss $27.7 million
Arizona - 1,927 romance scams with a total loss of $24.9 million
Illinois - 2,222 romance scams with a total loss $21 million
Georgia - 1,955 romance scams with a total loss $16.9 million
Indiana - 1,379 romance scams with a total loss $12.2 million
Kentucky - 905 romance scams with a total loss $11 million
Louisiana - 679 romance scams with a total loss $9.3 million
States with the highest rates of romance scams per 100,000 people
The states with the highest number of romance scams are also the most populous of the United States, so there isn’t much surprise with the figures. However, if we take a look at the rate of romance scams per 100,000 people, we can see that the top states aren’t the highly-populated ones. Rather, the states with the highest rates of romance scams are:
District of Columbia – 37.36 romance scams per 100,000 people
Oregon – 31.55 romance scams per 100,000 people
Maryland – 31.20 romance scams per 100,000 people
Alaska – 30.98 romance scams per 100,000 people
Washington – 30.21 romance scams per 100,000 people
The true cost of romance scams to date could amount to over $526 billion when factoring in available state data and the fact victims often don’t report having been targeted due to feelings of shame.
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Yvon Lux is the editor of her Apple News channel. Her “blogazine” celebrates sisterhood and empowers women by focusing on women’s health, travel, lifestyle, and entrepreneurial news while also sharing the most coveted trends and style stories.
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