Romance scams stole millions from Californians last year. Who is most vulnerable?
More than 3,000 Californians fell victim to online romance scams last year, losing a total of nearly $184 million, according to a recent report from the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.
These online interactions, which can occur on dating apps, social media, or other websites, involve scammers forming fake romantic relationships with victims in order to manipulate them and take their money, according to the FBI. Often, these money payments take place in the form of cryptocurrency or gift cards.
The report, released Wednesday, also revealed that the number of romance scams — also known as confidence fraud — reports has increased since last year. In 2021, the number of victims affected by romance scams went up by 548 compared to 2020.
The age group most vulnerable to romance scams is people over 60 years old, making up 32% of overall victims.
Overall complaints of internet crime have gone up by 7% from 2020, with victims from all over the country losing a total of $6.9 billion to these scams. But the online scam that had the highest financial toll for people last year was business email compromise, followed by investment scams, with romance scams in third place.
Statistics from the report also showed that people in California face the largest amount of online crime and suffer the most financially as well compared to any other state— losing a total of nearly $1.2 billion last year. The state with second highest amount of financial loss was Texas at around $606 million.
To avoid losing thousands of dollars to romance scammers online, the FBI has some tips on what to watch out for and how to protect yourself:
Be careful what you post and make public online.
Verify the person’s photo and see if it’s been used elsewhere. Try a Google Image search to see what comes up.
Ask a lot of questions.
Beware if the individual seems too perfect and quickly asks to communicate with you more directly or asks to meet up in person, but always comes up with an excuse about why they can’t.
Beware if the individual attempts to remove you from friends and family.
Beware if the individual requests inappropriate photos or financial information.
And as a general rule to avoid scams of any kind: Never send money to anyone you have only communicated with online or by phone.