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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.

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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.

Hopeful71
February 01, 2019
Anyone talk to a Heinrich Getherd or Heinrich Garchers. Works on oil rigs. Right now in Rome on an oil rig. Lives in L A California. 65 years old.
Alexandra hutton
February 02, 2019
I've been talking to an Nigerian for 5 weeks on Facebook.Everything was inoccent then he asks me to send him money.l said no gave my reasons.l was called every name under the sun.He has now deleted me but has an account on WhatsApp.Called me lots of names again really bad.On Facebook he claimed to love me after 4 weeks.Now it's ended I'm so glad.Ladies be careful they are out there.Goes by the name of Silver from Nigeria.
Chr1s1977
February 02, 2019
Anyone knows someone named James Chan? Says he’s Australian, but he is working g and living in UK, has a 6 year old daughter and his Wife passed away when she gave birth to her. He has an Instagram account named James_chan001.
Jazzie080
February 02, 2019
Have anyone heard of Daniel Webb
Kathy J
February 03, 2019
My sister is being scammed as we speak by a man claiming to be a retired army general working on contract for the UN in Afghanistan on peacekeeping mission with his contract being up in 2 weeks and had her open a bank account for him to deposit his 12.4 million retirement money because he cannot do it from Afghanistan and his son who is in school in Europe cannot do it for him and has no other family. She authorized him to make the deposit but she has to put $7500 in the bank before the $12.4 million can be released to the account "to cover transfer fees"He sent her pictures on facebook of a man in full uniform and said his name is Vance Michael Johnson and now has her communicating on her phone and email only and surprise he is not on facebook under that name.....beware this is a scam
Elizabeth
November 21, 2019

In reply to by Kathy J

Mine is called Major Billie Thompson, Irish background, American Army in Kabul. Wants me to open a bank account so he can send 1.6 million dollars. Says I can use 150,000 of this amount. Did not do, as I recognized the scam.
katie
February 03, 2019
I have been talking to Henry since Thanksgiving. He had me go into his bank account and transfer money for him saying they did not like his Afganistan IP address. He had the passwords, pin numbers, etc. The balance on the account was over $500,000 pounds in an Israeli-owned bank. However, the bank froze his account and he could not transfer any to me to help pay my bills. I received e-mails from the bank with an explanation that he needed to come to the bank to activate his online privileges (he said he tried to access his account too many times). He says he is in the military in Afganistan and will be coming home to me in June. He deposited money into my credit card; a week went by and I gave him $400 in iTunes cards; another week later the credit card company said the check was bogus; he just couldn't understand. His English is excellent. He sends me iTunes love songs once in a while. He is smooth, a real romance that I fell totally for. He says he has a son Jimmy living with his mother in North Carolina and he has hired a maid to take care of them both; he wants to marry me and we will live in his house in Columbus, Ohio but he won't give me the address; does any of this sound familiar? I want him to be real! I am madly in love with this guy.
Wol 2019
February 03, 2019
Richard Bashford - anyone know the name
Wol 2019
March 23, 2019

In reply to by Wol 2019

I can update on this. Been chatting for weeks and now he is asking for £40k to fix a machine so he can leave his job and come and spend the rest of his life with me !! I don’t have £40k - he has a Facebook profile with the same picture
@Samjazee4u
March 19, 2019
We allow racism put us into trouble. Most of the scammers capitalize on this to dupe people they definitely know y'all won't add them on Facebook or dating site if they should use their real photos. So they use the faces you like, the faces of who are the same race with you.
Lonelygirl
February 03, 2019
Anyone heard from anyone named Evans Steven Hammond in Kabul
Become-busines…
February 04, 2019
Hi all, My family has been scammed by a British soldier which is currently in Syria. The same story, I love you, come to visit you in April, rent a house and want to send money via a package. Unfortunately she paid, he sent her a completely fake delivery (Delievry) proof with a lot copy and paste work, different lettertypes and strange info about the package it was called a suitcase and a brown bag at the same proof of delivery. This guy has 3 Facebook accounts 2 with the same photo of a white guy and one with a photo from an Indian guy. Also one account is a member of an Indian Facebook group. Could it be possible the guy is so stupid he also used his own photo along with the fake name? My family wants to block him. What about the idea to ask him if she can be a business partner cause it's an great and easy way to gain money. And he also gets a small amount cause he introduced her to the business. Maybe it's a way to collect info about the guy and find out if he's really from India. I guess they are very clever and don't response to the idea, cause they know many people are looking for them. I would love to hear if my idea is an option to get closer to the scammers. Thanks for reading.
Biggy57
February 04, 2019
I lost a lot of money with this Gift scam last summer. I believed to chat with a famous musician.
Anne70
February 09, 2019

In reply to by Biggy57

Who was the fake musician you sent the Gifts to? I’ve also sent gift cards to a famous singer. He said he is Gary Numan. He followed me on twitter and we chatted on hangouts.
Doubtingitsreal
February 04, 2019
I have a story that I'm not sure if the guy is legit or not. I've been talking to this guy I met through a dating site (yeh I know) I've been talking to him since 12/27/18, so I've been talking to him for over a month. He goes by the name of William Smyth or Smith I didn't pay a lot of attention to the spelling of the last name he say's he's based out of Kansas of course he's in the military the Marines to be exact and yes he's sent me pics of someone who is in full uniform plus other pics in reg clothes. I've done my research, because like all of you I to was scammed many years ago and I will not be done like that again. Anyway I've checked his picture through Google nothing and I also sent his pic to one of my international friend, I've also checked his phone number, but it doesn't have any information about it just says it's from Topeka, Ks which is the base he's out of, so I've done my homework that's why it's confusing me. He does have an accent I can't place it, but he was born here in the US but his dad was from Germany and his mom is from the states he said they traveled Europe until his dad died when he was 6 or 7 his mom tried to stay there but ended up coming back to the states he was 16 or 17 and stayed behind with his dad's brother. Here's where it gets fishy a wk ago he asked me to do this. When his dad died his uncle liquidated everything into an acct overseas he uses HSBC my fellow wants me to set up a bank acct which I'm not putting my personal bank as the acct I'm going to use a prepaid card with the cards banking information to give his "uncle" my fellow isn't impatient about this, but keeps reassuring me that I can trust him that he understands my fears I just don't know if his uncle can get into the acct and get my personal information that's why I'm hesitant in doing this. I know what this sounds like but then what if it's true that he does need the help. This is constantly rolling around in my head. If he is a scammer I want to be able to call him out on it which I have called him that several times. I haven't been the most docile, naive person. I've put him through hell so far, but he still keeps talking to me, so I don't know what to believe. I have not met him, but he is planning on coming to see me for Valentines and this money which he say's is to be what he uses to come see me about $3,000 he's paying for his hotel stay his gas all the expenses with this money, so I'm not out a dime nor would I give him a dime either. I don't know what to believe.
Majorcannis1948
May 01, 2019

In reply to by Doubtingitsreal

I have the same guy with this exact story goes by the name of Michael Aurthur. Smacks of scammer. If you go off line and ask them where they live ... they refer you to a previous message. They can't keep their stories straight. Be sure you take notes so you can remember what they originally said.
Designer24
February 04, 2019
Anyone heard of Michael Wolf from AZ? He is German, has 2 pictures. One with blond /gray hair combed back, dark glasses big beautiful smile, in car. Another pic with his daughter sitting on a porch in front of a alt blue wall. In this picture he is wearing glasses and had a beard. Has a Dash hound dog. Claims to work for company in Phoenix, associated with oil drilling. Sent a picture of his mom with daughter and him with daughter. I want to believe him, but his story sounds so similar to many that are scammers.
Ashley Smith
February 04, 2019
I was scammed. This guy name was 'John Camp'. He messaged me on Instagram and right away asked me to send money to an orphanage. Then he messaged me again. Let me just say he was a real smooth talker. He said that he was widowed and that his wife died in a car accident, and that he had a 4 year old son that was often kept by his nanny. He said he was an independent contractor that lived in Washington state . He had to go on a business trip to Nigeria to build an office for his customer. While he was supposedly leaving on the plane he called me to asked me to open an account. I told him no that i can open the account with his information and not mine. He said forget it.Then he asked me to send him $300 to pay for a permit to start building in Nigeria and that his bank account was locked because he had a lot of money in this account and he is overseas, so he wanted to protect his funds. I sent it to him and the crazy part about it the cashier at western union denied me to send it because she said its a scam. He persuaded me to go to moneygram and send the money instead. Even that cashier told me that he thought it was a scam and not to send any money to someone I never met. After a few hours i got scared and asked for a refund. And he called me upset. I told him i need a picture of his ID or to video chat. He offered to send me a video clip. He did but the sound was off. So I went back to money gram to send the money. It was so dumb of me...Then he asked me to send him $1000 for some tools that he needed and to pay some workers. I took out a loan. I tried to send it via western union and money gram and they both denied me. That should've been major red flags but he persuaded me so much. I still found away to send him the money. Then he said that he purchased me a car from Germany and that he need $10,000 to have the car delivered and cleared from customs. Long story short i came to my senses and started investigating him. No one by the name john camp lived at the address he provided. I imaged searched his pictures, nothing came up. I search his phone number and it showed that it was a google voice number. I searched his email address and nothing came up. Nothing was adding up! So I confronted him and told him that he was scamming me, he played it off well and said that he was sad that i would think such a thing. A few days later he admitted that he was a scammer and looked nothing like the pictures he sent to me. He gave me his real name, real Facebook, and real phone number. He said that he actually fell in love with me unexpectedly and said he was sorry for everything and that he want to be with me forever....such a scum!!!!! I feel like a fool because all the red flags were there from the beginning but i because i wanted to be loved and have someone to talk to i ignored them or talked myself into believing that this person was real. I'm beyond heart broken. I'm never vulnerable with anyone and i was with this guy.
Daffodils2
February 04, 2019
I have a similar story. I recently met an army guy on a dating site. It quickly turned romance and then right out of the blue his last 2 emails were to move gold out of afghanistan. A diplomatic courier service called "Prince King" wanted all my personal information in a separate email so i could be sent this "Gold" package out of the country. Good thing i wasnt born yesterday. I emailed all this information to one of the gov scam links, and no more online dating for me.
Lelee
February 04, 2019
Catfished, by. AlexanderMiller770 A sergeant in the Marines and his mission was in France he needed money because he had had not eaten in three days.. I did not send any money. I told him to get some MRE's.. I feel bad for the MArines pictures that where used 6 pics used and one with his daughter.. This is very sad.
winnie
February 04, 2019
Look out for a Foley John on Instragram. Stated he has 2 kids and work overseas at a security guard. Lost he wife during labor. Its a scam! Don't send money, open bank account, nor give your login info!
davidsample96
March 08, 2019
He is a scammer as well. Goes by David Sample. also a Chris Rogers and even a David Rogers. I got the guy acting like Chris Rogers to confess he wasn't who he said he was.
Zerbac
February 05, 2019
Has anyone heard from Antonio Romanus?
wisc_lady
February 06, 2019
I have been talking with a man by the name Dr Teddy Allen say he is a orthopedic surgeon in Syria for are U.S. Army and wanted me to pay to get his luggage out of Germany I have not paid. But he claims he will do it and have it sent to me . He has sent me pictures of him. Even one of him before going to Syria with a fool view of his license plate on his car.
Mikki69
February 06, 2019
Has anybody had any experience with a Cason Wilkinson. US Army Sargeant stationed in Syria. Met him on POF and have been chatting for just over a week. Seems like a nice guy, no requests for money or profession of undying love, but something just seems a little off.
SamDon't use y…
February 08, 2019

In reply to by Mikki69

Do you really believe a US Military personnel will waste his precious time on a dating site looking for relationship ,try to be wise
Ktgirl
March 25, 2019

In reply to by SamDon't use y…

Yes he messaged me today. Something just felt off. I’m currently playing along. Same story so far as he’s given you.
Jessie
May 30, 2019

In reply to by Mikki69

I met him on pof and we talk for some days and he told me he was sorry that he can't continue with the conversation that he found someone after his heart.
Idaj in Louisiana
February 06, 2019
I just joined Instagram a few months back and had several men try to scam me. I immediately blocked them. Then I met this nice man I thought!! He never tried asking for money at first. We been talking since November. He says he’s from San Francisco but now lives in Brazil. Divorced with a 24 year old son. Says he is an Art Critic. Today was the first time asking for iTunes cards!!! My heart fell! I had thought he was not one of them!!! His name is Robert Moore. He got so mad when I said no I wasn’t buying any cards. He said “I thought we were friends “ then said bye.
Gmueller
February 07, 2019
Does someone know a guy with the name of James Mark Michael claims his an Orthopedic Surgeon in Syria. I was in Steps and he send me a message claiming to be a widow with a 12 year old daughter?
Dlk..FL
May 30, 2019

In reply to by Gmueller

Yes get caught up with him about 8 months ago seemed real nice until he asked for money. Again another 7 month conversation down the tubes ....they're horrible
Keeper of facts
February 07, 2019
If anyone has ph no's or emails to their scammer I may be able to confirm your suspicion as I met my scammer due to him underesrimat my intuition and letting his guard down. I gather a vast array of info before he realised. He's a twenty year veteran of romance scams and I've learnt how to pick his online footprints
Fool me once
February 12, 2019

In reply to by Keeper of facts

I think I’m being scammed by someone who calls himself Noah Jurgen. Can you do something with number and email?
Wolf
February 07, 2019
My brother being scammed she asked for iTunes and Amazon card but get this this girl is clever some how got his Instagram account and told him to get hangouts he did and he texts me hey bro I never heard of this before she wants my credit card a d Amazon gift card and iTunes they say they can exchange for cash I said no they cant there not from America at all all you hear is my phone is broke he says and cant take pictures I need a new phone and they want 250 dollars on Amazon or iTunes I told him do not do not of it she stealing your money for one I told him to look up scammers asking for Amazon and iTunes there using military service and all kinds of stuff there trying to hack Facebook on mine now I'm married why would these women want me they get on messenger some how and ask dum questions well lady do you see I'm married I say this stuff is weird and bogus be alert for these scammers.
username14
February 07, 2019
I think this just happened to me and he sent me so many photos of him in uniform with the same last name that he was using with me. I think he was just using a different first name. He was really good and I almost fell for it until he asked me to send money for a package that was delayed in customs. The shipping company however was not grammatically correct and there were so many holes and errors in the explanation that it was so obvious it was a fake company. How do I find out who the actual soldier is in the photos to notify him of his image and name being used as fraud? If someone used my image and tried to con money from others, I would definitely want to know.
Lesson learned
February 08, 2019
I talked to a guy for 3 weeks now. He's European. Has a 31 yr old daughter. Says hes been in the stated since he was 32, claims to be 58. Said he lived in Pittsburgh, Irvine and Phoenix. He's a gemologist. The weekend we were to meet for coffee, he had to go to Turkey to oversee the extraction process. He's been there a week. We have text continuously and chatted on the phone 3 times. Then today he text asking me to get him PSN cards to give to the attorneys son who's helping him get his license to bring back the gems. Normally we text then hes busy with work, remodeling his home. What first got me is the number he text from is a landline. His name is Wayne Dugdale, except there's no information anywhere on him. This guy is smooth. I didn't agree to send anything but he kept asking and texting then called me saying he needs to get his license and get out of there as he doesn't feel safe. He even asked me to go to Turkey with him a week after we started talking on Bumble. We never met in person. Be wary, a lot of creeps out there, lesson learned for me!
Plasticman77
February 08, 2019
I am wondering if any of this is not a scam has anyone ever gotten love from this?
Majorcannis194…
February 08, 2019
I was contacted October 2018 on a dating site Zoosk by a man named Patrick Aart. A very handsome older man who claimed to be the CEO of IncConstruction working on a secret government contract for the Pentagon and NSA. He even had a website I could visit as proof he was CEO of his own company. Patrick was a very smooth operator who claimed he lived in Connecticut. He would occasionally call on the phone and when I did a search the phone number was pinging off a tower in Wilmot, Conn. I found that to be confusing. He never directly asked me for money EXCEPT that he and I were to be buying a house in Spain together. All I had to do is pay half of the closing fees. As time went on we were getting emotionally close waiting for the day he would finish the contract he needed to fulfill by the end of this February. Occassionally he would mention that I had promised to pay for half of closing fees. In January he forwarded emails from a realtor in Malaga, Spain and I was to pick out the house I wanted most. He claimed he had used this realtor many times before when he moved from country to country on his work. We began having issues when I kept asking how much closing costs would be and he kept telling me that the realtor had not told him yet. Since he was supposed to be very nv well off I was always suspicious how he was going to ask me for money. Finally the day came that he told me closing costs were $100,000. But that he had talked him down to $89,000 and that half was my part to pay. I told him at that time that I was not sending any money unless I could put it directly into his hands. He said, of course, that is impossible because he could not leave the secret location. Patrick Aart had sent me a photo of a form from a bank in the Virgin Islands that showed how much money he had in an off shore account. It indicated almost $7 million. He asked me to delete the document as soon as I saw it and I did. He also had an email from the realtor in Spain saying they had received $394,???.00 in funds as partial down payment and that as soon as they received the information off of my passport the realtor and closing agent would finalize the sale of the house. I refuse d to divulge any information as sensitive as this to someone I did not know. He urged me to fulfill my promise and I frankly told him I did not recall ever making such a promise and he became very angry. I relented and sent Patrick back a message that I would like to verify that the realtor was viable and he blew up. I never had the kind of money he was asking so he urged me to take out a loan or mortgage my property or whatever it took to fulfill my promise. After a few days I finally told him that I would NEVER EVER send money to someone I could not see for myself. And for him to move on. At first he blocked my number but eventually I did hear from him because I kept sending him messages because I did have a hard time of letting go. I just am relieved thatnI did not have the kind of money he was asking for. I miss our talks and texting and I think of him every day. I think of the person he said he was and of the face I came to love. I am not sure how to post photos but I have 3 he sent. Please be aware and pray you dont fall victim to a financial loss because the hurt one feels for the emotional loss is pain enough for anyone. Thank you for reading and may God keep you protected.
Preserve
April 02, 2019

In reply to by Majorcannis194…

I have been texting with Patrick Aart from Our Time for 2 weeks but refused to meet. My daughters said he was catfishing. I texted him, said he was catfishing and I was disappointed. I asked him to take a picture holding up a paper with my name so I could c him. HE REFUSED and hung up. The 3 pictures he posted were of someone very handsome. My friend found your comments and I blocked him. Thank you so much.
Majorcannis1948
May 22, 2019

In reply to by Preserve

I am sorry you had to go through this experience. Today, I googled his name and Patrick Aart has set up what looks like a more legitimate web page for IConstruction. Still listing himself as CEO and if you search for him on Facebook it shows his name as Patrick van der Aart. Still no photo and only one friend who is a professional sports announcer who does not know a Patrick Aart. This guy is really good at casting doubt. Even when confronted he will deny deny deny. I posted the photos he claimed as his own on a Scammers website. Good luck and remember that the dating sites are crawling with scammers.
How deep is it
June 05, 2019

In reply to by Majorcannis1948

What was the Scammers website you posted pictures on??
How deep is it
June 17, 2019

In reply to by Majorcannis194…

I was also talking to Patrick Aart, my daughter googled his name and found your blog. Thank you for posting this. We were talking for a couple of months, went along with this as he had not asked for money. Two days he sent me the pictures of the condo's in Spain and when I asked for the address, as we have friends in Spain, as they wanted to see where it was, he got very defensive. Told me not to contact him any more, which is fine with me. He also sent me poetry every morning, which some were great, some were a little much. I do have his pictures and plan to post them on a web site.
WorriedFriend
July 03, 2019

In reply to by How deep is it

Hi There, I would love to chat about this person! This sounds exactly like a Patrick a friend has been caught up with. I’ve seen pictures but I haven’t been able to find proof. Would love to see pictures and see if this is same person because the name and situation are exactly the same.
Susgul
July 04, 2019

In reply to by Majorcannis194…

I, too, was approached by this man on Zoosk and fell for him. The only thing I don't see mentioned here is his accent. He told me he is Dutch and he does have a pronounced accent.
How deep is it
July 11, 2019

In reply to by Susgul

The Patrick Aart I talked with, until the end of June, had an accent as he was also Dutch. Told me he has a mother and daughter still living in Holland. I am still trying to post pictures. I had 3 pictures. First one was him in a tux, very good picture. Another one in a light colored shirt, a picture of his Conn. drivers license and then one in a black and white shirt. Says he has his own company and does contracts both in the USA and abroad, but could not disclose locations. We continued talking, usually calling me Babe, until I asked for the address of the places in Spain we were going to live at. I did send him this link when my daughter first found it and he is very good at denying that this is him. We started talking on email, with alot of questions of how we handle situations and then to texting.
Susgul
July 04, 2019

In reply to by Majorcannis194…

Would you please share your photos? I would like to make sure this is the same guy.
Susgul
July 26, 2019

In reply to by Susgul

Well, ladies it would appear that Patrick Aart is well and truly moved on. His phone number has been disconnected.
How deep is it
October 03, 2019

In reply to by Susgul

Well, it seems that Patrick Aart is now using the name Daan Jensen. Beware ladies