Skip to main content

Image of cupid and heartNot everyone using online dating sites is looking for love. Scammers create fake online profiles using photos of other people — even stolen pictures of real military personnel. They profess their love quickly. And they tug at your heartstrings with made-up stories about how they need money — for emergencies, hospital bills, or travel. Why all of the tricks? They’re looking to steal your money.

As if all that isn’t bad enough, romance scammers are now involving their victims in online bank fraud. Here’s how it works: The scammers set up dating profiles to meet potential victims. After they form a “relationship,” they come up with reasons to ask their love interest to set up a new bank account. The scammers transfer stolen money into the new account, and then tell their victims to wire the money out of the country. Victims think they’re just helping out their soulmate, never realizing they’re aiding and abetting a crime.  

Here are some warning signs that an online love interest might be a fake. They ask you to:

  • chat off of the dating site immediately, using personal email, text, or phone
  • wire money using Western Union or Money Gram
  • set up a new bank account

Did you know you can do an image search of your love interest’s photo in your favorite search engine? If you do an image search and the person’s photo appears under several different names, you’re probably dealing with a scammer. And if the person’s online profile disappears a few days after they meet you, that’s another tip-off.

Here’s the real deal: Don’t send money to someone you met online — for any reason. If your online sweetheart asks for money, you can expect it’s a scam.

Unfortunately, online dating scams are all too common. There may be tens of thousands of victims, and only a small fraction report it to the FTC. If this happens to you, please report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

A woman looking at a dating site on her computer.

Shera
January 18, 2017

In reply to by franda

This sounds like my guy who scammed me for 50 grand. Only I don't have a copy of his passport. What name is he using?
marilyn
July 26, 2017

In reply to by Shera

This also sounds like my guy. Scammed me for $70k. I can't even believe it. He sent a text to tell me he couldn't lie to me anymore. A week later he sent an email saying he still thinks of me and hopes I am ok. Makes me literally sick... I have a picture (I think)...
DrBsBFF
January 26, 2019

In reply to by marilyn

I pray over mine, I quit counting a long time ago. I think mine is getting ready to let go of me because he’s getting further and further distant from me. When I tried to get away from him in the beginning he threatened to blackmail me but now either he realizes I’m out of money or he’s just not interested anymore, not sure but I do feel like he’s slipping away and really just needs a friend, instead of a love interest or hopefully he’s feeling guilty and I’m not sure he’s man enough to confess to me.
marilyn
July 26, 2017

In reply to by franda

This sounds like the guy I met on Match. an engineer who is a widower but with a son. Also needed money for supplies for his machinery as there was an accident and the oil company is going to end his contract -he sent a copy of their letter - Dragon Oil PLC. I have a picture also. Shall we compare? I was naive and sent money...
Devans
August 02, 2017

In reply to by marilyn

This sounds just like the same person I'm dealing with. He goes by the name Georgia Walter he is on Facebook
justsusanhere
September 13, 2017

In reply to by Devans

His name is Georgia Walter? That is a woman's name... Is the last name Walters?
Maria1001
August 16, 2017

In reply to by marilyn

Hi this sounds like the guy I met on tinder. But i met him once through skype and he appears the same guy on the pictures he sends me. how come? how will i know the real person behind the photo?
NoWay!
August 25, 2017

In reply to by marilyn

Marilyn: I have the same guy! Engineer on an oil ship, son in Russia, needs equipment helicoptered in, I stupidly sent him iTunes cards, he sent me love songs every morning. Very attractive, dark hair with short beard, sent a pic of him & his son "Sal" . He used the name Matthew Papp, but I can't find anything about him anywhere!
Same Here
July 24, 2016

In reply to by FTC Staff

I reported Shawn Pierre Cazier (most likely not his real name) to the police department. I have given the police department all the information I had on this scammer. I hope the police and FBI catch and stop him from doing this to anyone else.
GODSCHILD64
July 10, 2017

In reply to by Same Here

I HAD A MAN from mocospace prawn on me. He says he's a marine name Evan Johnson and he says he's stationed as a patrol Italian to protect the borders somewhere and Afghanistan Cuba area and it says he's from Florida but just recently like on the 7th he took my phone number because he I can't remember his login information for MocoSpace or my own and use my phone number to create another account under Terry. - 3 and then have the credentials or the login sign and stuff sent to my phone I went what the H and start laughing again just give it to me I said I've never sign in to MocoSpace investigating on Sunday when I was off and found out that he went in there and changed into and put his pictures out there I've been trying to get money out of me money out of other girls I should have paid attention listen to the sign seen the warning signs and I saw the girl said that he was a fake I didn't lot of background checks on him and I don't know for sure who he is but I'm turning a man I ain't tolerating it God's child 64 from Kansas
a lied to fiance
September 28, 2016

In reply to by FTC Staff

Hi Bridget, I just found out my fiance of 9yrs & father of my 3 kids agedr7, 4 & 6mos special needs baby, has been talking to a girl from Ghana! I looked thru his phone cuz I had doubts about why his paycheck was gone in 3 days. I found out he sent her $114 which cost $54!!

Everything you say to watch out for I've read, they text & talk in the app hangouts right after they started talking she's saying she loves him, he's her "forever husband",then she started asking for money!! He doesn't make a lot and I'm home with our 2 youngest kids so his parents are already paying our bills and have been for a long time. I should've been suspicious when our infant was aproved for SSI and he got upset that I'm the only payee and I refused to have his check direct deposited inmy fiance's account.

But some intuition told me to protect my kids and myself. Well we've had problems about the 100lbs I've gained from 2010 til now & yes he's cheated before but I desperately wanted to believe in him this time after our baby almost died at birth he swore he'd changed that his family was everything to him, what a fool I am!!

Last night something told me to check his phone for the first time in over a year, I noticed Hangouts and started reading. Shocked and sickened doesn't even begin to describe my feelings. He sent a total stranger money "for food" because she's skinny & hot and works his ego, while our house is empty of food and I had to have his mom bring me milk for the kids & water for the baby's formula!! I wish I knew her name all I know is the user name Priceless Love also I'm going to try to send her picture to my phone. I believe he's being scammed, which he deserves, but it takes food awsy from my babies. Please let me know if you've come across her screen name and same story please . Thank you from a desperate stay at home mom.

FTC Staff
November 08, 2016

In reply to by a lied to fiance

I'm sorry this is happening to your family. Scammers use many different tricks to persuade people to send money. If the scammer is getting money by wire transfer, and you know the name the scammer is using, you can report her to the wire transfer company.

Sometimes a friend or family member can talk to a victim and help them understand this is a scam. Maybe you could share some of the stories from this other blog post about romance scams.

You may be able to get help paying for food for your family. This list from the federal government has links to state agencies that can help families with children and people with disabilties.

Don't use your…
November 03, 2016

In reply to by FTC Staff

How do you report a scammer to the wire transfer company?
Lilly
November 23, 2016

In reply to by FTC Staff

I am really unsure of what to do. I know my sister is being scammed on Facebook. I'm very sure that he is asking her to open up new accounts and/or transfer money from one account to the other. He uses Western Union as well. He has promised her a ring and says that he will marry her when she finally gets to meet him in December. She is so very vulnerable at this time because of a very traumatic divorce. She won't listen to me at all when I tell her there is something wrong with this situation :( .
FTC Staff
November 28, 2016

In reply to by Lilly

Could you show your sister some of the comments people wrote on this blog? Maybe seeing how other people werer tricked by romantic scammers and lured into financial schemes will persuade her that something is wrong.

Scammers develop online relationships and ask their "sweetheart" to use their own bank account, or open a new account, and accept money, and transfer funds. Law enforcement calls the victims of these scams money mules, because they're carrying money for criminals. If someone gets involved this scam, they can lose money from their bank account, lose personal information, have their bank account closed down, and get into legal trouble. This blog tells more about money mules.

If you have information about the scammer, you can call the Western Union Fraud Hotline at 800-448-1492 and explain the situation.

Patty.horn
December 29, 2016

In reply to by FTC Staff

I have a friend who believes a man name josh really loves her. She won't be live is grooming her. How do I convince her
Esperanza
June 13, 2017

In reply to by Patty.horn

Does this guy say his name is Josh Kent? Because I've had a guy by that name contact me through Facebook saying he was widowed and after a while he started asking me to send him money for a phone, which of course I didn't do.
Cami
May 04, 2017

In reply to by FTC Staff

I am having the same thing happen to me. I met him online and now text each other. He is in "Turkey" and in the military. When he sends me current pictures, honestly I can't tell. I am not sure he is who he says. He asked for banking information so he can transfer money. I told him I wasn't comfortable with this and hasn't asked anymore. I am so confused.
oregon
May 10, 2017

In reply to by Cami

To Cami - the guy in Turkey, is his full name Josh Wilson? Has he asked you to send by Money Gram? my guy said his passport and i.d. stolen, so put under his "friend's" name Josh Wilson. But Money Gram gave me back my money!!!!! it was a sign for sure they were in scam together. then of course angry phone message, with baby, and why are you making fool of me? give me a break
Lory
August 21, 2017

In reply to by Cami

Hi Cami! I also met a "Mr. Wonderful" guy from the army who is in Turkey now. He wants me to cash out a check that was sent under my name and send to whoever under Money Gram. It sucks!
Don't use your…
January 26, 2019

In reply to by FTC Staff

Good evening Ms. Small, I pray that you have been allowed to return to work. I’m writing again as I am curious why the FTC doesn’t have a special site or place where we can send the pictures we have received from these Scammers, where we can share a description of the information they’ve given to each of us. To me that might help us catch them quicker or at least help each other out from this blog! I have a real sweet talker and I find myself constantly giving him the benefit of a doubt that I shouldn’t. Maybe I would have been strong enough by now to turn him in or let him go. While I have sent information to the FTC, I still want to believe in him. Now 1 thing he didn’t bargain for with me is I pray for him constantly and I believe God can turn this whole thing around on him! And I believe God is going to take back everything the devil has stolen from me and return it to me, pressed down, shaken together, full to overflowing 30, 60 a 100 fold! I am between jobs right now and I’d be happy to help with this matter of shutting these criminals down!
Jack
May 30, 2019

In reply to by FTC Staff

So I was recently was scammed of $4000 on May 24, 2019 to a white woman who turned out to be a British director YouTube who was preying on me. Turns out he kept messaging me to give him money. His grammar is very outdated. Wondering if I can get the money back from money gram.
Crestfallen
October 26, 2019

In reply to by FTC Staff

This is a scam. This same username scammed me last year. Used the same tactics you are describing. Please save yourself. This is an artful deceiver.
Tanya
August 05, 2020

In reply to by FTC Staff

I have this guy a Doctor from California USA, I met him in Instagram he added me. He send me sweet words telling his background that he's the only son, father died when he was 17 and the mother can't accept so mother is in the Mental healthcare undergoes many surgery and since then he was alone we are chatting for a month now and last week he told me that he is assigned from this so called United Nation Healthcare to be assigned in Malaysia as one of the trained doctors who will handle patients for COVID19 blah.blah.blah. He told me he will stay for 1 1/2 month in Malaysia then after that he will go directly here in the Philippines to finally meet me in person. He asked me a favor that he needed someone he can trust about his contract money from Malaysia doctors union it's a huge amount of money he told me to give all my personal information like my Full name, address, date of birth, passport photo,email, he told me that his company needed this information to open me an account to put that huge money they can not pay it directly to my account because the International Transfer Monitoring Units will suspend the money once it will be transferred directly. I did give some of my information like my Full Name and Email but when I go back to our conversation he keeps on asking me about my favourite color, hobbies etc. Which is usually common security question when you are opening an account. I have an instinct that he's a scammer coz everytime I called him he didn't answer though he's sending photos to me. He's nice but my feelings about this is 50/50 I still think that he can't do that. Please advice me about this. Thanks
CuriousPersonD…
December 07, 2020

In reply to by FTC Staff

Is opening a bank account for a person claiming to be in the military so they can deposit money to purchase a plane ticket legal? I will not be using any of my funds except for opening the account. Need advice ASAP before I open account.
Rose
February 18, 2021

In reply to by FTC Staff

I was looking for a new scrabble player on facebook and this person showed up and wanted to chat. I said am only looking to play scrabble. Well we got to chatting over a couple of days and he asked if I had Hangout. I didn't know what that was so he explained it to me, that it was a more secure place to chat. So I downloaded it and we began chatting there. After a few more days he wanted a picture so I said you first, then I sent him one. All of the things you ladies have been saying are what this guy, Steven W Brawn was telling me; he was falling in love with me and later I was the soulmate he was looking for. He lost his wife 10 years ago and a son 4 years ago. Got my sympathy and told him I lost mine 4 years ago. He said he was 67 birthday August 8. He was very chatty, but never really answered questions very well. He worked on a rig and was a petroleum/pipe contractor His English writing was foreign and I ask where he was from after telling me Dallas, TX. I ask further. He said he grew up in Italy. Came back to the states with his mother and sister, Deborah when his father died. He did show up on face book with a few pictures and the ones he sent me were the same person. We did get a little steamy in some conversations. After one of those conversations he did ask me for gift cards to help him with his phone service so he could continue to talk with me. I said you can't afford that since you are a petroleum/ pipe contractor? He said his bank account was hacked and he can't access it. I said go to the bank. Said he can't leave the rig right now. Plans to work until he can retire in about 5 months. I blocked him after that sounded suspicious. Then I missed him and unblocked him about a week later. We started chatting again and he became just more persistent in asking and I came up with all kinds of excuses why I couldn't, then decided to check up on scams on rigs, everything he basically said was on there. I confronted him with my evidence and he said he was hurt and insulted and is not a scammer. Of course he would say that right? Wel,l here I am again texting with him and broke down and am planning to get two cards for him tomorrow at $100. each. Which I really can't afford, but I am hooked on this guy! He is the First man since my husband died 4 years ago that I have had conversations like this with. Since the pandemic it has been really lonely. I I felt so alive in these conversations. I don't want to tell my friends because I know what they are going to say to me, because I already see the red flags. After 3 blocks, here I am again. He is really good. If anyone out there can help me or knows this guy I would like to hear from you. I even did a Social-CAT check and nothing came up or on Spokeo. Thanks
Virgo
April 28, 2021

In reply to by FTC Staff

Has anyone been talking to a man that says his name is Matt Canon Hill. Says he's a Firefighter that's living in California and has a son that is 9
Raven
December 04, 2021

In reply to by FTC Staff

I reported to ftc and have yet to get a response.I’ve been scammed out of 60k. Through romance scam.
Jacqueline W
May 25, 2016

In reply to by Tera 22

hello, the same thing happen to me, a person had stolen the name and bio of LTG Fredrick B H Luckily, he did not get any money from me and when I challenged him, he blocked me.
fuzzyq
July 11, 2016

In reply to by Tera 22

i also fall inlove with a nigerian man,but when he start to ask me told him its over.most of them want south african papers and i dont fall for tht crab
Mazza
July 13, 2016

In reply to by Tera 22

I have him too,he needs 48,550 British ponds for his retirement certificate,i have played him for weeks,just to get info.i now have the bank details as to where to send the money.Result,report him now
Maria
August 17, 2016

In reply to by Tera 22

He's a scammer...you need to stop talking w this person immediately. I have been scammed by smaller amounts like 50$ a month, but always there were excuses and not being a blessed to talk on Skype. If they say for security reasons, ect log off immediately no matter what their pictures look like. I was even asked for my bank account numbers....trust me their out to hurt you using LOVE as a pretence
BEWARE!!
September 02, 2016

In reply to by Tera 22

I met a guy in social networking for about a month now who claims he is Captain John H Wilson and is 40yrs old. He is currently deployed in Iraq. He said he is widowed with a son who lives with his granny in Alaska. He even said he will be retiring and coming home in October. He says he is religious, wants to be my husband and marry me, etc. He completely ignores everything you say. However, if you didnt reply back right away, he just harassed you.

Today was were I drew the line and stopped all communications when he told me his " computer was affected with a virus and wasnt working anymore" In the meantime he is telling me this through a computer. The next second he is asking me to get him a computer through the military store at this website Us_army.s  @USA.com. Very bogus website and is a HUGE SCAM! I knew something wasn't right from the beginning but because he was coming from the military background, I figure he needed someone to talk to. I cut ties with this person before he could scam me. Be Ware ladies!

James waters
October 21, 2016

In reply to by BEWARE!!

Is the name my guy used. From NJ mechanical engineer, UN peacekeeping mission in Nigeria, widow, daughter in UK scholarship. Met him on tinder but moved to Viber. Luckily for me it lasted 10 days, but I'm disabled with no money. I figured to play him till he asked for money but I have better things to do. My friends called my attention to the scam. Good luck.
Mr.John
December 12, 2016

In reply to by Tera 22

Beware Tera hes a Scammer trying to test you by saying lots of Sweet n Loving Words to you to do what he wants to do get his phone number and investigate him. GOOG LUCK

RUDM
May 10, 2017

In reply to by Tera 22

The same one contacted me and the conversations were so sweet and he wanted to marry me and take care of me and my daughter... However, he then asked if he could send jewels to my address that he found overseas and I could keep them safe until he returned home to me... when I refused to do that his page was taken down and never heard from him again..
Don'ttattiehok…
April 25, 2018

In reply to by Tera 22

You know your being scammed right. This is all the same lines they use I will marry you oh by the way can you open an Account. Stop right there and shut them down. Dont even think twice just do it and block them
barrywhite
May 14, 2019

In reply to by Tera 22

hi dear.let me tell you what you should know...this scamar they always claim to be Government ARmy....someone that truly loves you will not ask you to open an account for money wiring dear..so please dont give him infact if you can block him just do.thank you
Don't uchoregi…
February 27, 2020

In reply to by Tera 22

He tried thst with me. I got information and came against what he said. He is DEFINITELY a scam artist.
JennGotScammed
August 24, 2020

In reply to by Tera 22

I was on two different dating sites and both men trying to scan me used the unusually fast love interest in me. I even broke up with one scammer because I thought the other scammer loved me more and I thought his picture showed a much more handsome man. Both claimed that they were from Europe but moved to the U.S. recently. One profile was Frank Dawson. The other was Jeremiah Clarke. Frank was supposedly from Dublin, Ireland but was living in Swansee in the U.K. Jeremiah was supposedly from Germany and moved to the U.S. about 3 years ago but was in Dubai for a business trip which he took a private plane to get to. He told me that he lost his wallet almost immediately after he said he arrived and he also said he forgot his baggage that had his I-pad in it. He asked me to purchase an I-phone and ship it to him at his hotel he's staying using Fedex express. I told him I couldn't and he got angry saying "you don't really love me or you would help me." I asked him why his daughter couldn't do it. He said she's not able to. I was the only one who could help him. I cut him off without sending anything and not spending a dime. These men are very tricky and tug at your heartstrings. The scammer named Frank Dawson held me on this love trip for almost 5 month. He said he moved to U.S. last year and went back to U.K. for whatever reason and when the pandemic hit, he was stuck over there. He was calling me "his wife" and claimed his 11 year old son was going to "love his new mommy". I only talked to him once and he didn't sound "Irish". He sounded like a man from a middle eastern country because the accent was deep and very hard to listen to. His voice was darn right scary to me. He told me he couldn't call me on the phone because it would be too expensive so obviously, he didn't want me to connect the dots. The very strange thing was that he actually sent 3 packages to me. He sent me a dozen roses and a teddy bear and box of chocolates. He then sent me 2 dozen long stem roses and another teddy bear and box of cookies. He sent yet another package with another teddy bear. After that, he got down to business thinking I was hooked, line and sinker. He asked me to set up a business account at a bank. Then he would get that account number of that account so people could send money to it and he could send it to the shipper of goods. At this point, I knew I had been taken all these months by a scammer who was trying to "butter me up". His tone changed very quickly around this time. He wanted to get down to business or his business partner thought it was time enough to see if I could be taken in. LADIES, please understand that YOU are not stupid for falling for these scammers. They are trained professionals. Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
heartbroken
February 18, 2021

In reply to by Tera 22

I met a handsome man named David Jeffrey did curly blonde is gray hair beautiful smile large chin who is 65 years old, had a picture of him with a little girl his daughter 10 years old sitting next to him and also another one of him standing inside of a oil rig on Facebook. He told me to immediately go on Hangouts for he cannot get a good signal on the oil rig. He was a petroleum engineer in Malaysia off the coast a said that he thought I was attractive and wanted to get to know me. Not realizing that he was a scammer. I was suspicious after sending me Love poems and repeating things seem to be copy and pasted from the internet. He continue on telling me how much he adored me and that he wanted to marry me. Said he had money and he's going to buy me a home and wanted to find someone that at had a family background because he had a daughter in boarding school in Georgia . Said he was in an orphanage growing up. Said that his mother had died at Birth later saying that she died when he was 10 years old and father died after being a military defense man. First told me that he grew up in Germany went back to the States to go to high school and college. Later married and lived in Berlin where he met his wife that died after a car accident about 3 years ago. Said that he had money had homes in Washington, California and Georgia. He was going to retire after his contract expired in September after 2 years. He wanted to meet someone cuz he was lonely. Thank God it didn't go any further than that although I did get my heartbroken after all the things he said to me and made me feel like a princess that he called me and he was my prince. I had someone do a background check and sure enough he wasn't who he was. When I told him he got very angry about it. Do not fall for anyone start Romancing you. I thank God I was not one that was taken advantage of to give money. This is a lesson for me that I had learned how men like to scam and romance you and then break your heart. I started talking to him only 2 weeks ago .
Helpless
November 22, 2016

In reply to by FTC Staff

My husband feel for a Nigerian romance scam. After several months, the scam artist gave a sad story about her mother, inheritance, etc. They wanted him to open a PayPal account and a checking acct. They were sending $1700 to his checking account. Except it went into our Wells Fargo account.

He doesn't believe my daughters and I that it is a scam. So he went ahead thinking he is helping her mother in Brazil. He used MoneyGram as they told him to do. The bank hasn't contacted him yet for the $1700 bounced transfer. How long does it take for the bank to receive notice from PayPal? Will they continue to ask him to transfer money or will they just steal money from our checking account?

I am one step ahead of this criminals. I changed our checking account. Closed it at Wells Fargo. Opened a new checking account at Wells Fargo in my name and my daughter's name. What happens next? Cut him off?

FTC Staff
November 22, 2016

In reply to by Helpless

If your husband tells someone your bank account number, they can withdraw additional money.

You may want to warn your husband that if he deposits a bad check into his account and transfers funds, he will lose money and can get into legal trouble too. Some criminals develop relationships with people online, and then use them to help transfer funds through banks in the US.

It can take weeks for a bank to discover that a check is fraudulent. A bank may make some funds available on a check within a few days, but that does not prove that the check is good. This FTC article has more about fake checks.

Helpless
November 27, 2016

In reply to by FTC Staff

Thank you for replying to me. My husband believes this person. I do have everything covered. New acts only in my name. Now waiting to see what happens next. The bank is aware of of all this. I have alerts on the acts.
Thanks17
March 15, 2017

In reply to by FTC Staff

Ma'am Bridget Small, It's too late finding this site and reading all blogs because all my savings gone and went through bank loans and even getting loans from friends. OMG! I'm dead and totally broke. It's my fault believing a total stranger. His name is General Houghton and a certain attorney and a banker. I realized ...it's a group. Please pray for me so I could handle my life after this devastating experience. Why the authorities coild not catch these criminals? Thank you !
Broke and disgusted
December 04, 2017

In reply to by Thanks17

So sorry to hear this I am still hanging on even though I know it is a scam I have reported to IC3 web site / Reported with pics etc on Romance ScamsNow.com/ Stop Scammer.com/ and should file a police report but yet I still hold out hope but wont send another DIME to this man all the while knowing this CANT BE TRUE... Feel so stupid and Broke and paying off loans used my retirment etc,.