Security & Privacy
How many people fall victim to romance scams every day?
A live estimate of people falling victim to online relationship fraud today
Roughly 1.17 victims every minute.
Source: FBI IC3 Annual Internet Crime Report 2024; FTC Consumer Sentinel Network. View on dashboard →
What is a romance scam?
Dating scams use fake romantic profiles to manipulate victims over weeks or months, then extract money. Scammers often pose as military deployed overseas, oil-rig workers, or wealthy professionals. They build emotional dependency before asking for "emergency" funds. The FBI IC3 has tracked this since 2015. In 2017, over 15,000 Americans reported romance fraud; by 2024, it had merged with crypto investment scams ("pig butchering").
What this means for you
Romance scams are not about gullibility. FBI data shows the most targeted group is adults aged 35-64: educated, financially independent people who simply met someone online at a vulnerable moment. The mechanics of the scam are designed specifically to bypass rational thinking by building genuine emotional attachment over weeks or months before any money is mentioned.
At today's rate, roughly 2K people globally will fall victim today. Each of them likely had a weeks-long conversation with someone they trusted. The average reported loss per victim in the US in 2023 was over $2,000, but for the most severe cases, losses exceeded $100,000.
A key warning sign: the person never agrees to a video call, or the video call looks slightly "off" (AI-generated face). Any request to move the conversation off the dating platform, or any request involving money, gift cards, or cryptocurrency should be treated as a red flag regardless of how long you have been talking.
The human cost: what the FBI and FTC data show
FTC Jan-Sep 2025: 55,604 US romance scam victims reported $1.16 billion in losses (+22% year-on-year); romance scams outpaced all other FTC fraud categories
Federal Trade CommissionBy 2024, dating/romance scams had merged with crypto investment fraud ("pig butchering"), dramatically increasing per-victim losses
FBI / IC3In 2017, over 15,000 Americans reported romance fraud; in 2018 the number rose to 18,000 (+70%)
FBI / IC3Cryptocurrency payments in romance scams grew 25× from 2019 to 2021 (FTC)
Federal Trade CommissionRomance scam victims are often contacted on non-dating platforms: social media (46%), gaming apps (28%), or professional networking sites
Federal Trade CommissionRomance scam victims vs. money lost, today
Romance scams are among the highest-earning fraud types per victim. Track both the human and financial toll in real time.
How romance scams evolved: from letters to AI deepfakes
- 2015FBI IC3 begins separately tracking romance/confidence fraud; rapid growth phase begins
- 201715,372 US victims, $211M in losses; IC3 issues first public warning
- 2020FTC reports $304M US losses, fourfold increase from 2016; cryptocurrency overtakes gift cards
- 2021FTC records $547M US losses, then-record; crypto romance fraud 25× 2019 levels
- 2022FTC: $1.3B US romance scam losses; pig-butchering accounts for majority of cryptocurrency investment cases
- 2024FBI IC3 2024: 17,900 US romance/confidence fraud complaints; crypto investment fraud losses $5.8B (includes pig-butchering with romantic contact)
- 2025FTC Jan-Sep 2025: 55,604 US victims, $1.16B reported losses (+22%); romance scams top all other FTC fraud categories for the first time
How romance fraud works: the psychology of manufactured love
The anatomy of romance fraud
Dating scams are among the most psychologically sophisticated financial frauds. Criminals, often operating from organised call centres in Nigeria, Ghana, the Philippines, or Southeast Asia, invest weeks or months building emotional relationships with targets. They study their victims' social media, learn about their lives, families, and interests, and provide tailored emotional support. By the time the first money request arrives, many victims feel they are in a genuine relationship. The manipulation has been compared clinically to patterns seen in abusive relationships.
The pig-butchering evolution
Since 2020, dating scams have increasingly converged with cryptocurrency investment fraud in a scheme known as "pig butchering" (sha zhu pan). In this variant, criminals build a romantic connection, then introduce their "successful investment" in cryptocurrency, convincing victims to deposit increasingly large amounts into fake investment platforms controlled by the criminal. Victims often invest their life savings before discovering the fraud. IC3 reported cryptocurrency investment fraud losses of $5.8 billion in 2024, the majority involving initial contact via dating or social platforms.
How romance fraud grew from a niche crime to a global epidemic
Dating scam reports have risen sharply since 2017, with losses accelerating dramatically after cryptocurrency became the preferred payment method. Funds are virtually unrecoverable once transferred.
| Year | Rate | Est. per day | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 11/hr | 264 | Social media-facilitated fraud grows |
| 2021 | 35/hr | 840 | Pig-butchering scams emerge |
| 2024 | 57/hr | 1K | Pig-butchering dominates; crypto mandatory |
| 2025 | 70/hr | 2K | Romance scams outpace all FTC fraud categories; AI-assisted approach |
Our conservative projection into the future
Official figures capture somewhere between one in six and one in eight actual cases by the FBI's own estimate. The true scale is already much larger than public statistics reflect. As AI reduces the human effort required to sustain these operations, the constraint on their growth weakens. There is nothing in the current data suggesting the gap between reported and actual victims will narrow.
In perspective
Globally, someone falls for a romance scam every 51 seconds.
The average US victim loses over $20,000. For many, that's everything they had saved.
Per complaint, romance scams cost victims more than any other fraud type the FTC tracks, more than identity theft, more than investment fraud.
What victim studies reveal
| Year | Finding | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | FBI IC3: 15,372 romance/confidence fraud complaints; $211M in losses | 15K US victims/year | FBI / IC3 |
| 2018 | FBI IC3: 18,493 complaints (+70%); $362M in losses | 18K US victims/year | FBI / IC3 |
| 2020 | FTC: $304 million in romance scam losses in the US, fourfold increase from 2016 | 304.0M USD losses (US) | Federal Trade Commission |
| 2021 | FTC: $547 million in romance scam losses in US, record high; cryptocurrency payments nearly 5× 2020 level | 547.0M USD losses (US) | Federal Trade Commission |
| 2022 | FTC: ~$1.3 billion total romance scam losses in US; nearly 70,000 people reported losses; median individual loss $4,400 | 1.3B USD losses (US) | Federal Trade Commission |
| 2024 | FBI IC3 2024: 17,900 US romance/confidence fraud complaints; $672M+ in losses; crypto investment fraud (pig-butchering with romantic contact) adds $5.8B in separate category | 18K US complaints/year | FBI / IC3 |
| 2025 | FTC Jan-Sep 2025: 55,604 US romance scam victims reported $1.16 billion in losses (+22% vs same period 2024); median loss per victim $2,218 (Q3 2025); romance scams outpaced all other FTC fraud categories | 56K US reported victims (Jan-Sep 2025) | Federal Trade Commission |
Frequently asked questions
- How many people fall victim to dating scams each year?
- The FTC reported 55,604 US romance scam victims in just Jan-Sep 2025 (+22% year-on-year), implying over 70,000 reported US victims for the full year. FBI IC3 2024 recorded 17,900 romance/confidence fraud complaints (a narrower category). Based on a ~12% reporting rate, the true US victim count is estimated at 500,000-600,000/year. Globally, the annual victim count is estimated at 2-4 million.
- How do dating scams work?
- Scammers create convincing fake profiles using stolen photos (often of attractive professionals or military personnel). They establish contact, build emotional intimacy over weeks, then introduce a manufactured crisis requiring money, typically sent via wire transfer, gift cards, or cryptocurrency. Once money is sent, they typically ask for more before eventually disappearing.
- Who is most vulnerable to dating scams?
- Widowed, divorced, or lonely individuals tend to be disproportionately targeted. However, dating scams affect people across all demographics. The FBI notes victims include people of every education level, income bracket, and age group. The highest financial losses per victim typically occur in the 50+ age group.
How the number is calculated
The live rate of 70/hr is based on FTC Jan-Sep 2025 data (55,604 US reported victims, annualized ~74,100/yr) combined with FBI IC3 2024 (17,900 US romance/confidence fraud complaints). Applying a ~12% reporting rate to the FTC annualized figure yields ~617,000 true US victims/year; with the US estimated to represent ~20% of global victims, global total is ~3 million/year. A conservative estimate of 70/hr is used to account for partial-year extrapolation and methodology differences between FTC and IC3 counts.
Sources used: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Annual Reports 2000-2025 - FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book (annual, 2014-2024) - FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report 2024 - FTC - Romance Scam Losses Spotlight (2025 partial year, Jan-Sep) - FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report 2025. Full methodology: methodology page.
How this romance scam estimate is verified
The primary sources are the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network romance scam data (Jan-Sep 2025) and FBI IC3 Annual Internet Crime Report 2024. The FBI has tracked romance fraud as a distinct category since 2015. The reporting-rate adjustment methodology is based on the National Crime Victimization Survey (Bureau of Justice Statistics).
Sources
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Annual Reports 2000-2025 - FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book (annual, 2014-2024) - FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report 2024 - FTC - Romance Scam Losses Spotlight (2025 partial year, Jan-Sep) - FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report 2025.
Explore related statistics: Romance scam money lost - Online scam victims - Phishing emails, and the live AnythingCounter dashboard.