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.

It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.

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.

heartbroken
June 16, 2019
I need everyone to understand my situation. I was one of the many scammed by Antonio Giovanni. Let me tell you the story in a short form. I had met him through words with friends 2. We started out as friends then it was best friends and then it went to so much more then I expected. I am very heartbroken but let me tell you this guy is very smooth and will make you feel like your the love of his life and he will then go in for the kill where he starts to ask you for money to help him out. Do me a favor if you here from this guy just do not do it. He will tell you he has a daughter in boarding school in Italy who needs him and that his wife and son died in a car accident 3 years ago. He will tell you he works in the military as an ortho surgeon in Afghanistan and i could go on and on. I was with Antonio for 8 months now but noticed a lot of people have been with him and that is just this month alone. I imagine all of us got suckered in by him being such a ladies man and he is sitting back just collecting our money. I do not know about any of the rest of you but I did report him to the authorities and I think all of you should do the same since that is the only way this low life will ever get caught is if we team together.
redgoofball
June 16, 2019
Has any one heard of Werner Hummel
Worder
August 06, 2019

In reply to by redgoofball

Yes, I’ve heard of Werner Hummel. Did you have encounter with him. Maybe on words with friends?
Br1970
June 17, 2019
I'm asking has anyone been scammed or texted by Scott Lewis, says in Nigeria, .US military, E6 sergeant, may go by Jordon Lewis, Peter lewis
Don't use your…
June 17, 2019
Does anyone know a Jim Christopher
CMC
June 17, 2019
A guy called Clinton Mcdonald clintonmcdonald555 on Instagram started following me. I followed back and he said Hi. I left it for a while as I don't normally speak with people I don't know. Anyway I said Hey back and we were innocently chatting. He's a doctor/surgeon/neurologist from California. I said Cali is a big place whereabouts, he said LA. He has two sons Maxwell 19 and Jasper 14, and is divorced. Anyway within a day he was like oh you're amazing you're so special, and all like, I wanna live where you are, retire and marry you! Then today he said he doesn't like women where he's from as he's a rich guy and they're only after his money. PLEASE BEAUTIFUL LADIES, don't be desperate enough to fall for this rubbish. If you think it's too good to be true it is honey. I reversed google image searched his pic of him on a motorbike. It came up as a completely random different guy. Man I had to dig hard but eventually I found out it wasn't him. I messaged him just to say I'm not angry just real sad that he would do this to people. Funny part is there was literally no 'love' from my side - he knew I was hard work as I thought it was suspicious from the start. I've reported his profile and I told the guy who's images he used. I feel so sorry for anyone who falls for this, but I can see how easily it happens. Please look after yourselves XXX
AnnaJ
June 17, 2019
Hi, I'm a gay woman and met a person calling herself "Caroline Derglen" on Fem chat app about 2 weeks ago. She says that she's a nurse/pediatrician and on her freetime (and sometimes in her work) is involved with UNICEF as volounteer. She lives in Turkey and is of Turkish/Danish decent, born 1988. We quickly moved on to Hangouts and she's sent me about 3-4 selfies of herself, almost all of them with a t-shirt that has "Nurse" and "Neonatal nurse" written on it. She also sent me some Snapchat pics of her and a girl she says is her cousin. They all look very authentic and she's cute and blonde. I didn't suspect anything except that I thought it was very early to say you love someone after one week . Last week she asked if I could buy a Amazon gift card for her, when I asked why, she said she needed it to download some files to use in a lecture seminar she would be talking at. I felt that it didnt feel right and I even said straight out that I dont trust sending something to someone I just gotten to know online. She told me not to bother myself. When I asked how she solved the problem she said she used some of her school books. I've asked for her Facebook account but then she became a bit suspicious why I asked, and said that she deleted it a while ago due to various circumstances. I also said that I don't even have her mailadress but its not important she answered, the most important thing is that we love eachother. She also told me that she has had girlfriend. One died in a car accident and the other left her for a man. Nothing has been suspect after that, but she tells me that we're gonna live togehther and has sent me some poems in the morning and as good night. This morning she wrote that we will never leave eachother. And this morning she would also be flying to a refugee camp at Gaziantep. I asked her to send me pictures from there and she send a selfie where she wears a scarf and winterjacket...but now it's summer and about 30 degrees.... When I write this I feel that there are quite a few questionmarks but I don't want to write her off because I think it's interesting to see what will happen. Is this a scam? Anyone recognising the scenario? Should I just leave this? Would be so happy if someone would answer my questions.
Ch.M
June 22, 2019

In reply to by AnnaJ

Hi AnnaJ, I have a few months to talk to "caroline derglen". For me was that she wanted to come to country and said that can split to money. If I chatting with some girl and she asking for money, I will say no and ask her if she is a catfish. Unfortunately I was trapped by "her" and some money to her. And today I found out that she is a he. It's a black boy, and he liked to catfish people and asking for there money. I don't know who the on the picture really is. But also all pictures with a nurse text on the shirt. So don't send any money and don't continue talking to him. Just block him.
AnnaJ
July 02, 2019

In reply to by Ch.M

Hi Ch.M I'm so thankful for you writing this. I started to believe that she really was a she. How did you find out that it was a black boy? I will stop writing and block him immediately, thank you once more.
Ramirez-2019
June 17, 2019
Mine found me on IG. I have my profile private. But i decided to give a try. His account was private as well, with a couple of pictures of him and his dog. one of his "daughter" and one of a nice truck. Barely had any followers. So were talking for just 2 days, and he was already trying to control me. I don't want you talking to anyone besides me and got mad because it took me a few min. to respond to his msg. He then stated he wanted to speak on Google Hangouts. So we went there. He kept sending me pictures of flowers and how he misses me and LOVES me. And that he's ultra Rich from working on a rig. He promised a nice life for me and my daughter. I had a gut feeling this was shady. I told him straight out. Look I'm poor as they come, I had to throw that out there. "oh i'm not here for your Money" -whatever. So then here's where the "can you do me a favor?" came in. He said he had ordered a bunch of Iphones to give to kids but Verizon screwed up the order and he had to leave for the rig. So He asked if I can receive them under my name since he trust me. I said NO. He then started bashing me, you don't trust me you should because i love you. ETC... So ladies out there! He doesn't have to ask for money but other favors like that. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN! If i had given him my account information, he could've ordered a lot of phones under my name and credit and such.
Kitty61
June 17, 2019
I am dealing with a man who says his name is Robert Perez Guffey. Age 55, a very handsome guy who claims he was born in Brazil. As I'm finding out is a common thing of being in a oil rig. He says he needs a fee of $4500 to release payment from a contract job that he did in Spain. He wants to pay the fee, get it released and put it in MY account. Now, I am not against anyone giving me money especially 1.9 Million, glad to take it!!!! But I feel something isn't right. Anyone run across him out there. I didn't and won't give him one red cent. My mama didn't raise a fool. And I don't have anything to give. I too wish we could share pictures of these creeps!! And the worse part of it is, if the picture was stollen, this poor guy isn't aware of it and I'm in love with him.
Doesn't feel right
June 17, 2019
I have been in communication with a man(?) who states he has fallen in love with me. He is currently in UAE, and says he is working as a financial manager for a large company out of the UK, but he resides in the States. He said he will be making over 21 million, operating as the financial manger for the UAE team that is investing in his company . The money gets used to purchase stock in the company and then will be sold to give him the money earned. He has not asked me for any money, I already told him that he would not get any, would not get any bank information etc. He sent me a couple of pictures, one on a plane, the same day he was flying to UK then onto UAE. His first name is Steve, and his email address is via gmail, so I can't trace where ir comes from, since its all within gmail. He did provide me a cell phone number, which is out of Florida, but that "checked out" because he told me had been there before relocating to a town not far from me. My gut tells me its a scam, but with no money being asked for, and nothing else to go by, how do I know?
Kind01
June 17, 2019
Anyone familiar with a Andrew leach says he is a gunnery sergeant at a marine base in Virginia . He has a profile of him wearing a black hat and supposedly his daughter in the background with dirty blonde hair holding something she is eating.
Sunny42
June 17, 2019
Has anyone been approached by someone calling themselves ‘Glade’ with a passport name of Hannes Erasmus. He claims he’s working in Qatar on a project for Qatar a Petroleum.
Almost Scammed
March 04, 2021

In reply to by Sunny42

Man on Muslima app using the username EH and later claiming his name is Erasmus Hannes. He claims he is a Muslim convert and lives in Qatar. Does not have a digital footprint and was not willing to FaceTime.
camilla
June 18, 2019
A man called David Chang, Hong Kong born man, went to the conference in Hong Kong one day and added me on Tinder. He then went back to United States for work. Few weeks later, he said he was awarded with Ukraine contract. Then few weeks later, he said machine failure and asked me to send money. He also raised from with his friend. His friend called me and confirmed it’s true. Then he sent me a bank account page and asked me to do the transfer and failed. Bank asked for $38000 for PIN and then 46000 for code for the transfer. Without this, he can’t leave.
hH
June 18, 2019
A friend of mine is currently talking to someone who claims to be in Syria. He says his name is Antonio. I can't remember what he said his last name was sadly. He talks to her a lot and sends poetry. He had not asked her for money but I'm suspicious. She's very vulnerable at the moment. Any thoughts? He's sent her several photos and is very good looking.
Scammer
June 19, 2019

In reply to by hH

He's probably the same one that I met on Tinder last year and told me he was an Orthopedic in Syria. Very handsome and never would talk on video. Go to malescammers.com and search for Donald Waters see if its the same guy.
milixza9898
June 18, 2019
Did anyone have any experiences with a man by the name of Luis S. Alessio on IG? He claims he's from Spain, and is a marine engineer that is always busy and can never talk on the phone. I spoke to him for a couple of weeks and actually took a liking to him, but I blocked him last night cause I had this feeling he was fake since he couldn't send me pictures, nor was he ever able to come to the phone. He never asked me for money though and he would go quite some time without responding to my messages. Oh and he's 35... I'm 21. I'm sure he's reached out to other younger woman, so if anyone else recognizes him, please let me know!
milixza9898
June 19, 2019

In reply to by milixza9898

And I also forgot to mention that he claims to have lost his wife due to reasons he doesn't want to talk about and has a 3 year old son who is in the care of a distant relative in Oklahoma while he's away at sea.
Senior 70
June 18, 2019
To doesn't feel right, I have thought about what you wrote , and maybe it's nothing , who knows, but I was scammed for $3300.00, I took out money from my retirement fund. He had a supposed contract for yes 21 million and had to pick up his money in Aust. Felled at the airport supposedly coming to see me and police confiscated his so called money , yes now he needed brain surgery , spoke to him 6 days before his so called coma out over 2-3 wks. I have learned and believed him , there is even a cartoon which I've seen about scamming between relatives. I wished I did my homework but I trusted him. I did file a police report and a report with the 1 C 3 ftc .
ziggy
June 18, 2019
I had a message through Instagram , his name is James Scott, told me his wife died in a car accident, has a 14 year old son, lives in Texas , son is at boarding school, says he from Germany , asked me to get whatsapp to chat , I knew from the start he was not real , I asked him to write my name on a piece of paper , which he did , but again I just can't believe , he asked for iTunes because he needed to do research at work and used all his up chatting to me, now has said his son is on vacation and staying with his disabled grandma which he also supports when not working on the rigs in turkey, I'm waiting now for a request for money, the thing is this guy seems head over heels in love with me and keeps asking why I'm not romantic , hahaha your not real mate , but it's fun along the way as long as you don't fall into there trap. Anyone else chatted to James ??? I have pics if anyone wants to see them.
Cupcake
August 21, 2020

In reply to by ziggy

Oh god yes. I have. Honey don’t believe anyone . I tell them they all use the same handbook. Trust you head. If they sound to good to be true then they aren’t. If they are in the military, on a rig anywhere, a engineer or any kind of independent contractor move on. Block and delete them. Don’t waste your time. I’ve wasted to much time. I actually started to let them talk and play there game. I wait for them to ask for something. Tell them yes I’d be happy to. Get there information and report them. Stay safe from these dirt bags... cupcake
Ms. Jo
June 19, 2019
I have read some of the posts and I can say that exact same thing happened to my aunt. A guy that is around 50 y/o, an Engineer from Manchester, UK tried and successfully preyed on my aunt. He told her stories and made her fall in love. And then suddenly he has a project in the Philippines (a condominium in Cebu). But when he got there, his account was frozen and asked my aunt for help. He told her to help him and once he gets access to his account, he will pay her. My aunt then (being vulnerable and kind) helped him. She sent him a total of $100,000. And just recently, that guy told her that he has already deposited the money $800,000 to her account but she needs to pay for the Tax Clearance Code (2% of the money deposited) thru Western Union in Cebu. My aunt is from the US. She still talks to him, and that guy still asks her that she needs to pay $5,000 more so she can finally get a hold of her money. I hope you can help me catch this guy. I hope you guys can help me with this.
Wilson
June 19, 2019
I met a guy online called Jurgen schmidt he said he was a oil enigneer he was a scammer ask for money after five week. He was all about romance.
Ranibal1328
June 19, 2019
Acttually as of this moment I have a chat mate name Rosie Williams claimed that she is a military personnel asking for money after she said her love to me She ask help that her son is in the hospital that needs $250 OMG!..thanks for this information now I know that she is a SCAMMERS. All the written articles here are TRUE. Thanks God I found this ARTICLES..keep up the good works guys in giving more valuable information to people..
lost in love
June 19, 2019
Oil rig story.., has twins. Home in Cali, he needed help until his contract on rig was over. I fell, hard. Invested thousands... goes by name of Maxson
Damn scammers
June 19, 2019
I’ve been talking to one guy in Syria for a few months and just like everybody else in here, he wanted money. I have pretended I would but haven’t. I knew he was a scam but I wanted to mess with him. Problem now is that somehow he knows my husbands and cousins name (not sure how) and is now threatening me that he will tell my husband. I had no intention with him but found it amusing how far he would go to make me believe that he was “in love with me”. But it has now gone too far where the threat bothers me. I hope he doesn’t contact my husband to cause issues.
Ramirez-2019
June 20, 2019

In reply to by Damn scammers

Then threaten him back, you tell him if he messages any of your family you will go with the Interpol and to report him for fraud.
Grtldy
June 19, 2019
Has anyone heard from someone named Alex Smith? One of his Facebook profiles was under “A Alex Smith” Russian oil driller that’s lived in Florida? Profile picture was middle aged man with salt and pepper hair.
Ramirez-2019
June 20, 2019

In reply to by Grtldy

Unfortunately most of these scammers are middle aged with salt & pepper hair. and very good looking for their age. And yes those pictures are stolen from other profiles. it's sad because they pray on lonely women.
Ramirez-2019
June 25, 2019

In reply to by Dana

this scammer had a 17 year old daughter. No dead wife, just divorced one. He didn't have the common lie. Which to me it was strange. It's sad how they can get to you and still make them think they are real for a long time.
almostasucker
June 23, 2019

In reply to by Grtldy

Peter Clever was his name! Military, in love with me so fast! Said all the wonderful things a woman wants to hear! He made the mistake of calling me. He thought he would loose me if he didn’t . He guy sounded Asian, and he tried to pass it off as Finnish. Lol! This guys mom and dad were killed in car wreck when he was 17. He had a Facebook and then got hacked just yesterday. I sent whoever it was, this article and they got super mad! Poof! Peter Clever was gone! If it’s too good to be true, it normally is! He had an answer for everything! He was in Israel and had sent photos and 2 videos! He never got the chance to ask for money at least! That was the first time for me and the last!
Bigtiny
June 19, 2019
It just men scamming people. Women do it too. I was scammed by 3 different women. Come to find out after being hurt by all 3 . I found out about image searching that one was using a nurse's photo. That wasn't her. Another used a photo of a woman that's a TV star over seas. And the third believe it or not used a porn star pics.
Kate
June 19, 2019
Has anyone heard of a Paul Walter? He says he's 41 years old, and he's claiming to be from Los Angeles but works for WPE Energy in Oklahoma.
Dee
July 02, 2020

In reply to by Kate

I know one but he's 57 or 59 years old works for UN. Trying to get me to send him gift cards. He's also from Los Angeles wonder if it's same guy.
Glenda
June 19, 2019
I’m talking to a guy right now he says he was a famous singer in the UK Jason Paul Brown . He was in former boys band called the 5ive. He told me his wife died from being sick. And has a son named is Michael. And he’s on a ship called the Divine Major in the middle of the ocean near Malaysia. He’s in the marines. He’s asked me for my bank account to put money in it for me. And he’s asked for ITunes card for $100. I told him no of course. Not sure what to believe.
Sadams1974
June 20, 2019
He is asking me to open up bank account so he can deposit money into it and let me have some of the money also I even closed my account because he tried to deposit money into my account
Rsh
June 20, 2019
I have been a victim of a romance scam and didn't know until it was to late. I may owe 2000 to the bank. This scammer put money in my account and then had me moneygram it back to her. Milatary she said. I cant afford this. I am on disability and work part time. I contacted anti fraud Canada and rcmp and fraud alert added to Equifax . I am meeting with my bank today to try and see if they will help me. I have new account now.
Renee
June 20, 2019
I met a guy online and weve been talking for a month until he left the states for a business trip in turkey. He said he is a widower with 2 kids in boarding school. Were supposed to meet after a week whils he is in turkey. He said ge is going to fly to Vietnam to meet me. His english is good. He never ask me money or anything for that one month.I was the one doing his bank transactions to transfer funds to clients twice. On the third time, i couldnt send anymore and the online banking said it is not allowed. I was even the one who talked to the agent online chat of the bank and she said that he reported to the bank that he is ggoing to turkey but transactions was checked and was made from Vietnam so they blocked it. I got a US visa by the way, with his name as my sponsor and it was granted. I got 10 years multiple entry. Anyway, The agent told me that he has to go back to the states if he wants to open his account again. So what we did is to look for money for him. And ive sent more than 3,000 US dollars for him. Now, he is still asking for more because the project is not yet done for another week. My question is, is this a scam also? But ive talked to the bank agent online. And also i got a US Visa with his name i use.
Don't use flor…
June 20, 2019
Does anyone know a Chris Thomas who’s working in the gulf a Mexico on an oil platform? I’m trying to figure it out myself.
Star99
July 01, 2019

In reply to by Don't use flor…

Hi, I’ve been talking to a Harry Thomas. He’s on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico . Showers me with kind words, calls me his Queen, wants to spend the rest of his life with me. I have a photo
Sorry and stupid
July 05, 2019

In reply to by Star99

Please. I would really like to see your photo. Sounds very familiar.
Star99
July 07, 2019

In reply to by Sorry and stupid

Hi, blocked him and deleted photos stupidly but I would recognise him if you have a photo.
Florise your e…
November 05, 2019

In reply to by Julie

Yes I do. Gray hair blue eyes tall sometimes has glasses on too
Julie
December 19, 2019

In reply to by Florise your e…

Not dark hair with blue eyes, live in NJ USA, working on a oil rig in the Mexico gulf. Needs money for his crane?
Julie
January 14, 2020

In reply to by Florise your e…

Florice, what mailadress does he use?