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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.

Search Terms
bank account
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military
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online dating
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Topics
Shopping and Donating
Scams
Romance Scams

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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

chr3261
March 25, 2019

In reply to by Janme

I’ve been dealing with a guy named Ben Alex Great. He works for a Bitcoin company called Gennius Mining Bitcoin company. I believe I was scammed for $4000.00. He found me on Instagram. I would love to get feedback. He contacted me on January 24 of this year.
DesireeZB
March 28, 2019

In reply to by Janme

That's a huge sign of scammer. They try to say working n through past 9 yrs they say engineers n usually south Africa working. If anyone says too fast love you, your the one, asks for money, has a sudden emergency scammers
Sunshine
April 17, 2019

In reply to by DesireeZB

A mining engineer In South Africa claims to be widow for eighteen years. Name Elías. Anyone heard from him. He asked for bitcoin
Madison
June 29, 2019

In reply to by Sunshine

This sounds like a guy who calls himself Dawid Casper. He's Polish and is a diamond miner in South Africa.. Very knowledgeable but he is a scammer.
Dux2019
November 03, 2019

In reply to by Madison

Can you give more information sound like Elias above that just told me he had a serious accident
Sued
November 09, 2019

In reply to by Dux2019

wow I have been talking to him since first of September, he told me about accident last weekend and finally said he needed money, I was devastated because I thought he was real and fell hard for him
Dux2019
November 03, 2019

In reply to by Sunshine

Please elaborate think i am speaking with the same man je just told me he is in big seriois trouble after mine accodent
Sued
November 09, 2019

In reply to by Dux2019

He told me all the same things, that is when he wanted help, he is fake person
Scammerssuck
February 17, 2020

In reply to by Donna1022

My mom is talking to a guy from turkey who matches that description do u have a picture?
Lou1832
July 04, 2019

In reply to by Janme

Met a guy on pof. Said he was a civil engineer. Went to Bolivia got robbed needed $$$$. Wanted bitcoin coinbank deposits Itunes Amazon Sephoria . He says hes from Canada. Got an Italian accent. Goes by Paul Jackson. Has a facebook of Paul Grillo Jackson. PLEASE CHECK OUT HIS FB AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU RECOGNIZE
Twosweet70
July 18, 2019

In reply to by Janme

Bitcoin is a form of money there are instant tellers where you can change Canadian money to bitcoin and they will pick it up. There is no way the police can track that I know my mother-in-law I was scammed using the Bitcoin
River
September 29, 2019

In reply to by Janme

The guy I'm talking to is " on a oil rig" in the gulf. Weve been talking for about 4 weeks. He says he will be flying to visit me in oct but had an accident on the rig and since it is his contract, says it has cost him lots of money. Now says he has to buy the part that was broken that costs $30,000 and he only has $20,000. He has to replace the part??? He needs $10,000 and the he can put his men back to work and come home to me. !!! I just dont know about all this. I have checked him out on Spokeo, Been Verified and Catfish and find NOTHING..good or bad. Please help me! Yes he has reeled me in, romantically
nomoremoney
October 01, 2019

In reply to by River

It’s a scam!!!! I was scammed with the exact same story!!!! Todd McCarthy was the name he used! Send nothing!
Florida
October 03, 2019

In reply to by River

Is his name Chris Thomas from Ohio a widow and has a daughter Mel with a nanny?
Don'Maisy1234t…
November 10, 2019

In reply to by River

Is his name James? Is he from Spain and is he a widow with a son? If so- I have been hearing the same story- he says that he is out 100,000 and that’s all of his $$ until he gets paid for this big job. I stopped him from asking me. Has he redirected you to a n App called ‘Hang Out’. Yes he has proposed
Lola
November 12, 2019

In reply to by Don'Maisy1234t…

That's what he wrote me! Ladies share some of theme stories the give. "since friday i got the mail concerning the shipment fee wish is rated the cost of $6300... since then i have been trying to log in my account from my pc ..but due to some pass entries that i stored on my phone .. i cant recover i have tried guessing so pass entry been notified that the location i quit no active trials so right now im so down and frustrated ..... i dont know what to do ,,'''' i fill like committing sucide ,... i dont want you to get worried about this
TX
December 08, 2019

In reply to by River

River, Will you send me a pic of the guy that works on an oil rig with a contract and broken machine. I think the exact same thing is currently happening to me.
deceived1026
February 24, 2020

In reply to by River

Is his name also Bertrand j McCarthy on an oil rig in the uae? In the emirates and they got robbed by pirates?
KatEyez
October 15, 2020

In reply to by River

Hi River, I might be talking with the same man. Could you please reveal his name?
Mazz T
December 30, 2020

In reply to by River

This sounds like the person I was talking to from September last year until March. He asked to join my LinkedIn network, quickly then asked to communicate on WhataApp. Name of Frederick Turner, CEO TurnerOil and Gas, checked out website, seemed genuine. The LinkedIn account has lots of members. After 3 months said a piece of his equipment was broken and he needed to have it replaced, His agent, Patrick Wilde, needed money to pay for the transport cost. He didn't immediately ask for help but eventually did. US$5000. I reported him to LinkedIn and his profile was removed and I can no longer find his company on Google. I suspect he has changed his name and backstory. American accent, very good at schmoozing.
Naton't use yo…
September 11, 2019

In reply to by Gigi18

Same here I can’t add the photos !
CommonLy
February 10, 2019

In reply to by Tamb51

Sounds quite familiar with what I’m dealing with. I met this guy who claim to be in the Army in Africa. He told me he loved me after one week. Then told me to chat on hangouts. We chat for two weeks nonstop. Then he said his son jas to go on a field trip and needs 700. I almost fell for this, but thianm God I followed my gut instinct. He said to send money to his aunt, name is Kimberly. When I ask to soeak to “Kim” first beforebI send her money, this guy claim that he cannot disclose family members info. I told him if I cannot talk to Kim, then i wont be sending out money. Now he is ignoring me bc I wont send him money. I also have friends in the military and they helped me with questions to ask this guy. I did that, and he was outraged!! Said I disrepected him. Oh and I dont think he’s too smart bc the pictures he sends me says a diff last name on his army uniform.
blackdog
March 14, 2019

In reply to by CommonLy

I've seen pictures of a guy that friended me on Instagram that claimes to be in the Marines. The pictures in his acct. have a different last name than the name on the uniform.
Mark Lee
March 29, 2019

In reply to by Tamb51

Oh gosh, This has happen to me also which i loose $18,000,00 , me and this so called guy that act like a woman has been together for 3 years promising me to she is coming to me not until i came online and read more about scammers, because she always tells me not to go on internet but because i love her i obeyed what she told me.. May God keeps us away from them.
Flowersgirl
April 13, 2019

In reply to by Tamb51

Sorry to say but he is bs those are pathical liar i been scamming with bar gold too with a man i fall in luvs in syria but he my race but they are using same technique to scamming good women god see wat they did turn them in if i were u
Tamb51
March 22, 2018

In reply to by Rose2018

Rose2018.This guy sounds similar to the guy I'm talking to.Since we can't share pics on here can you discribe the pics he sent .Describe him and the background of the pics?
MarkD
April 21, 2018

In reply to by Rose2018

OMG @Rose2018: Your story just saved me. I've been chatting with a guy who called himself Tyler Badon for several weeks now. His story was almost identical to the one your guy gave you. The only major difference is that I am gay, so it was an ex-boyfriend who cheated on him and treated him so badly. And now he is in Afghanistan and lonely, without family, etc., etc. He first contacted me on Instagram and then moved our discussion to Google Hangouts. I got all the undying love crap. He even sent me a little video of himself working out at the gym. And I had the same experience with questions. He asked me a zillion questions about all sorts of nonsense. But when I asked him for details about his previous life in the states (or even his life in Afghanistan), he would just ignore them and disappear. Tonight, for the first time, he asked me if I could send him an iTunes gift card so that he could download music that reminded him of me for when he was lonely and bored. I had never done that before, and I was searching for advice on how to send a gift card on a chat platform when I stumbled upon your story.After reading it, I went back to the chat session we were having and I told him I needed to send the gift card by postal service. Of course, he would not give me his address. So I blocked him from Google communications services and Instagram. Ouf. I feel like such an idiot. But I am eternally grateful that you shared your story. You kept me from going down what might have been a very costly path. I wish there was some way we could warn others about these schmucks. Or, even better, get law enforcement involved and rounding up all the profiles until they capture the creeps. Anyway, thanks again for sharing your story. I'll try not to be so gullible next time.
carlos
May 10, 2018

In reply to by MarkD

Hey i think i might be in a scam donu have the istagran page of that guy?
NYCTJP
July 07, 2018

In reply to by MarkD

I've been talking to this Tyler Badon for a few weeks now myself. Everything identical to what you have described. Yesterday is when he asked for an ITunes card which I did not send as it immediately seemed fishy. I'm proud of myself to see the red flags when I saw them but so embarrassed that I fell for everything else.
Scammedbyryanf…
June 19, 2019

In reply to by NYCTJP

I met this guy from Instagram named Ryan Frigate..After a week chatting, he told me he loves me..and I fell for it. We communicate daily. He's story, he's only son. He's Father left them and He's Mother raised him alone but later, he's Mother died..He's in a US air force and have a mission in Somalia..We talked daily and he seems so caring. We shared sexy moments..I'm so stupid. But one day when he asked me to buy him a steam card, I said ok. I never heard of it, so I looked up online..and found victims of this scammers asking for steam card..So, I blocked him right away on Instagram and hangouts. After a week, he contacted me using my other email, he found my Facebook which I never gave..but he knew my real name..He tries calling me on hangouts but never answer his call..so, he blackmail me if I don't answer his call his gonna message my friends on Facebook with my video..He has a video of me, it's not naked, just sexy..But I told him, go ahead I don't care, and told him, u wont get anything from me..I have nothing..I told him before that I have nothing..But still he tries to blackmail me.. Anyone have encounter this guy?
XTopher26
July 27, 2018

In reply to by MarkD

@MarkD, I think I may be talking to the same guy! He followed me on Instagram and asked to chat in Google Hangouts! He hasn’t asked for any money yet, but he laid the same sad story about his ex cheating on him, along with his life in Portugal before coming to the states when his Dad died. He says that he is in the Army and stationed in Afghanstan.
Carusogirl
August 27, 2018

In reply to by XTopher26

This man keeps asking me every day send email so he can go on leave so be with his kids thinks going too marry him hell no everyday send message too me following me on Instagram said from start don’t give my money away he says just need help get out of army see his kids ask can ask anyone else he says your my queen say his wife died can’t see his kids email I will send where let him see his kids not send email he says don’t care I over it
Mary
October 18, 2018

In reply to by Carusogirl

This man asked me for money o blocked him then my Facebook page got hacked so I went back to hangouts to tell him off, he started out saying oh god honey iwould not do that, then he got mean, and said i know where you stay I got people watching you .i am going to kill you. You got 3 days to buy me a ITunes card or I am going to have you kill.and I am afraid because I don't know if he is telling the truth or a lie, but he is still on my pages
Bella
October 15, 2018

In reply to by Carusogirl

I was scammed out of icer$26K by Andre Chris claiming he was an Oil Rig Engineer! The Foe followed me on Instagram and later sent me a message he immediate asked me to communicate w him over Google Hangouts and then said that his exit papers for the oil rig along w money were in a parcel in Belgiumand he wanted me to be the heir to help him get his parcel - Andre Chris (He also goes by Andre Cristian) declared his love to me told me he wanted to marry him and I said yes! This scam of him forcing me in a nice way to send money via money gram, Western Union & also through my own bank wire transfer went on from Oct 2017- Oct 2018 u til I caught him lying to me by sending me a fake airline AA ticket to my hometown!! People pls flee from these types of scammers
Scoobydoo
November 06, 2018

In reply to by Bella

The same thing happened to me the same story oil rig engineer Nelson Andre.Need money for shipment
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