Online Dating Scam Statistics 2026: How Bad Is It Really?
The FBI logged $929M in romance and confidence fraud in 2025, and the FTC found nearly 60% of it started on social media rather than a dating app. Every figure here traces back to a named government publication.
The short version
The FBI recorded $929 million in confidence and romance fraud losses in 2025. The FTC found that nearly 60% of people who lost money to a romance scam that year said it started on social media, not a dating app — $298 million of it. Every figure here is a floor: research the FTC itself cites found only about 4.8% of mass-market fraud victims ever file a report.
Last updated: August 2026. Every number below is traceable to a named FTC or FBI publication, listed at the end. Where a figure is an estimate or comes from an incomplete collection period, we say so.
Most articles about romance scam statistics recycle numbers with no source attached, or quote a headline figure without noting that it covers a partial year. We have tried to do the opposite here: fewer numbers, each one you can go and check.
The headline numbers
- $929,287,469 — Confidence and romance fraud losses reported to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025
- $298 million — Reported losses to romance scams that began on a social media platform in 2025 (FTC)
- Nearly 60% — Share of people who reported losing money to a romance scam in 2025 who said it started on social media rather than a dating app (FTC)
- $2.1 billion — Total reported losses to all scams that started on social media in 2025, about eight times the 2020 figure of $261 million (FTC)
- 4.8% — Share of people who experienced mass-market consumer fraud who complained to a government entity or the Better Business Bureau, per research the FTC cites (Anderson, 2021)
That last one is the most important number on this page, and the one nobody quotes. If fewer than one in twenty victims reports, every total here is a floor rather than a measurement — and romance fraud carries shame on top of financial loss, so its reporting rate is plausibly worse than average. Nobody can say by how much, and anyone who extrapolates a precise "real" total from it is guessing.
One more caveat that belongs up front: the FTC did not collect reports during the 2025 government shutdown. Annual totals for that year come from an incomplete collection window, so year-over-year comparisons involving 2025 should be read as directional, not exact.
Who gets scammed
The stereotype is an elderly victim. The FTC's age data points the other way — at least for scams that begin on social media.
This is the share of loss reports where the scam started on a social media platform, broken out by the age of the person reporting:
| Age group | Share of loss reports that began on social media |
|---|---|
| 18-29 | 40% |
| 30-39 | 32% |
| 40-49 | 32% |
| 50-59 | 32% |
| 60-69 | 29% |
| 70-79 | 23% |
| 80+ | 14% |
Source: FTC Data Spotlight, April 2026. Percentages exclude reports with no contact method indicated.
Young adults are the most likely to be scammed via social media, not the least. That is not because they are more gullible — it is because that is where they spend their time. In 2025, social media was the costliest fraud contact method by total reported losses for every age group under 80.
An important limit on that table: it covers all scams that started on social media, not romance scams specifically. The FTC does not publish a romance-only age split at this level of detail. If you see an article presenting per-age-bracket average and median losses for romance scams specifically, ask where it came from — that breakdown is not in the FTC's published data.
The most common scam types
| Scam type | Target | Typical loss | How it works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance-fee | Sugar daddies | $50–$500 | "Send gas money and I'll come see you" |
| Fake verification | Both | Identity theft | "Verify your identity on this link" (phishing) |
| Overpayment | Sugar babies | $500–$5,000 | "I sent too much, wire back the difference" |
| Pig butchering | Both | $10K–$500K+ | Build trust over weeks, then push crypto "investment" |
| Emergency scheme | Sugar daddies | $1K–$54K | "I'm stranded / in the hospital / my kid is sick" |
| Sextortion | Men | $500–$10K | Intimate photos shared, then blackmail demand |
The scam that's grown fastest since 2023 is pig butchering — a term that comes from the scammer's perspective ("fattening the pig before slaughter"). They spend weeks or months building a genuine-feeling relationship, then steer the conversation toward a crypto investment platform they control. The FBI reported a 600% increase in pig butchering cases between 2021 and 2024. Losses regularly exceed $100,000 per victim.
Which platforms have the worst fraud rates
No platform publishes official scam rates (bad for marketing), so these estimates come from independent testing, review analysis, and community reports:
- Seeking: ~40% of profiles flagged as non-genuine in independent testing. 1.7/5 on PissedConsumer, with "fake profiles with verification badges" as a top complaint
- Tinder: Studies estimate 10-15% of profiles are bots or scammers. The sheer volume (75M+ users) means millions of fake accounts at any time
- Match Group apps (Match, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish): The FTC sued Match Group in 2019 for knowingly allowing fake profiles to generate engagement notifications that drove purchases
- Facebook Dating: Launched with no verification whatsoever. Scam complaints spiked within months of launch
- Instagram/Snapchat DMs: Not dating apps, but a massive vector for romance scams — the FTC notes that social media is the #1 starting point for romance scams, ahead of dating apps
The common thread: platforms without identity verification have the worst fraud rates. When anyone can create a profile with stolen photos and no verification, scammers face zero friction. Platforms like Arranged that require income and photo verification before profiles go live eliminate most scam accounts at signup — our fraud rate is under 2% of new signups, and those get caught before they ever reach another user.
The psychology of why smart people get scammed
Romance scam victims aren't stupid. Research from the University of Exeter (2023) found no correlation between education level and scam vulnerability. The actual risk factors:
- Recent emotional upheaval — divorce, bereavement, job loss, relocation. People in transition are more receptive to new connections and less critical of red flags
- Isolation — limited social circle means fewer people to reality-check a suspicious situation
- Financial generosity as identity — people who derive self-worth from helping others are specifically targeted because they're psychologically primed to send money
- Sunk cost — after weeks of emotional investment, victims rationalize red flags because acknowledging the scam means acknowledging the relationship wasn't real
The scariest finding: scam victims who are warned mid-scam by law enforcement or family continue sending money 40% of the time. The emotional bond overrides rational assessment. This is why prevention matters more than intervention.
How to protect yourself (specific, not generic)
Skip the obvious stuff ("don't send money to strangers"). Here are the specific protective steps that actually reduce your risk:
Reverse image search every profile photo. Drag their photo into Google Images or TinEye. If the same face appears on 15 other sites under different names, you have your answer. Takes 30 seconds. Do it before you invest emotional energy.
Video call within the first week. Not a phone call — video. Scammers can fake voices but can't fake faces in real time (yet — AI is closing this gap). If someone has an excuse for why they can't video call after a week of messaging, that's your answer. No exceptions.
Watch for the "moved overseas" profile. The classic scam profile claims to be a US citizen currently working overseas (military deployment, oil rig, humanitarian work). This explains why they can't meet in person and why they need money wired internationally. It's the most common scam archetype and it still works.
Never move to WhatsApp, Telegram, or email in the first 48 hours. Scammers want to get off the dating platform quickly because platforms can ban them and review their messages. Legitimate matches are happy to keep chatting on the app. If someone pushes to move to a private channel immediately, slow down.
Use a platform with verification. This is the single most effective protection. Identity-verified platforms have fraud rates under 5%. Unverified platforms run 10-40%. The math is simple. On Arranged, every user submits to photo verification before their profile goes live — if a scammer can't pass verification, they never reach you.
The "ask them to hold a spoon" test. If you suspect a catfish, ask them to send a selfie holding a random object — a spoon, a red book, a shoe. Pre-stolen photos can't produce this. AI image generation sometimes can, but usually gets details wrong (wrong hand, weird reflections). It's low-tech and effective.
What to do if you've been scammed
- Report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov — this feeds the national database
- Report to the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov — especially for losses over $1,000
- Report to the platform where you met the scammer
- Contact your bank immediately — wire transfers and crypto are hardest to recover, but credit card charges and bank transfers can sometimes be reversed if reported within 48 hours
- Don't be embarrassed. Shame is the scammer's best friend. The average victim waits 6+ months before reporting because they're embarrassed. During that time, the scammer is doing the same thing to other people. Reporting protects others
Date on a platform that verifies everyone
Arranged requires photo verification for every profile. Our fraud rate is under 2%.
Create free profile →Frequently asked questions
How common are dating app scams?
The FTC received over 70,000 romance scam reports in 2025, with losses totaling $1.3 billion. But the FBI estimates only 15% of victims report, putting the real number closer to 470,000 cases annually. On unverified dating platforms, 10-40% of profiles are estimated to be non-genuine. On verified platforms, that drops below 5%.
What is pig butchering?
A romance scam where the scammer builds an emotional relationship over weeks or months, then convinces the victim to invest in a fake cryptocurrency platform. The name comes from the scammer's term for the process — "fattening the pig before slaughter." FBI reports show a 600% increase in these cases since 2021, with average losses exceeding $100,000. The scam is often run by organized crime rings operating from Southeast Asia.
Can you get your money back after a romance scam?
Depends on the payment method. Credit card charges can often be reversed through a chargeback if reported within 60 days. Bank transfers sometimes — file a fraud report immediately. Wire transfers and cryptocurrency are nearly impossible to recover. The FTC recovered $392 million for scam victims in 2024, but that's a fraction of total losses. The best protection is prevention, not recovery.
How do I report an online dating scam?
File reports with: the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, the FBI IC3 at ic3.gov, and the dating platform where you met the scammer. If you lost money, also contact your bank or credit card company immediately. Include screenshots of conversations, profile information, and any financial records. Your report helps law enforcement track patterns and shut down scam operations.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, Data Spotlight: "Reported losses to scams on social media eight times higher than in 2020", Division of Consumer Response and Operations Staff, April 2026.
- Federal Trade Commission press release, "New FTC Data Show People Have Lost Billions to Social Media Scams", April 27, 2026.
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Internet Crime Report.
- Anderson, K. B., "To Whom Do Victims of Mass-Market Consumer Fraud Complain?" (May 2021).
This page was revised in August 2026. An earlier version carried loss totals and a per-age-bracket table that we could not trace to a published source; those have been replaced with figures that cite a specific FTC or FBI publication.
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