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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
fraud
military
money transfer
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.

Happiestgirl101
June 04, 2020
I just fooled my scammer. He says his birthday is tomorrow and he wants to talk by phone all day instead of messaging. But he said I need to buy a $100 steam card for the database guy who intercepts the outgoing calls. I found a picture online of a code from a steam card. I took a screenshot and sent it to him. LOL!
Emrldcve
June 05, 2020
Has anyone heard of an Austin Hernandez? Supposedly stationed in Afghanistan? Hes scamming my buddy and Im just trying to save my friend of his life savings. They are gay so Im not sure how much help this will be but I appreciate any help. Dude is supposed to be shipping something to him from Illinois.
Rhody
June 07, 2020

In reply to by Emrldcve

Hell have to pay for the package. High Amts of money. He doesn't get the package and the guy gets the money. I was also warned,. If they won't face to face, phone calls, anything else except electronic. U don't know who's talking to you literally or what they look like. It took me eight months to snap out of it bc I was so happy in love and believed everything that was said. Hook, line and sinker. I finally was alerted to ftc consumer forum for romance scams and started reading.
Vickster13
June 05, 2020
I think I have been scammed too! Name Stephen Adams, lives in Texas with son Michael! Works offshore as engineer and when he is away Michael is with a nanny! Cheated by wife and best friend everything on here looks familiar! Not asked for money yet, no sing of him anywhere on line.... nice looking with greying hair and goatee! Anyone out there had the same????
Sandy g
June 05, 2020

In reply to by Vickster13

Sounds like the one that’s scamming me. Good looking says he’s a dr in Iraq.
Jbritoriel
June 07, 2020

In reply to by Vickster13

I was chatting with a Steve from Texas. He fell in love instantly. Wife cheated on him. He is a broken man who professes to be. Jehovah’s Witness works as controller of Oil Spillage. Right now he is taking care of his mother who had a stroke.
jriel
June 11, 2020

In reply to by Vickster13

I was talking with a guy named Steven from Texas. He was traveling to Ecuador because he got a huge contract to work as a controller/oil spillage. I caught him because I search on Google what he was sending me%
Jessy
June 11, 2020

In reply to by Vickster13

Yes, same Story, were chatting since end of may, he told me he‘s working on a rig in Abu Dhabi, one son and a father in a retirement home in Madison. After one week he asked for 10.000k for a friends wife who has cancer. His name is Mateo Alberto, 54, grey hair, green eyes. Check his pictures on tineye
Ms. CorvetteDd
June 29, 2020

In reply to by Vickster13

His name is James powell. Age 60. Very handsome and a con artist. It took me 2 years of him promising me to come to the states and didn't show June 29th, 2020. Do not send him money. I have reported him. He is not in Turkey but arobi, kenya. RUN AWAY FROM HIM. He has not heart or soul. Just a pathological liar.. God bless you listen to what I lm telling you.
CC
June 05, 2020
I met Michael C. On wwf2, chatted a bit. He said he lived in Delaware as a free lance engineer, widowed (of course!), staying at home because of covid. He asked for an email address so we could talk off the game site. When I hesitated and told him I had been scammed before, all of a sudden he has disappeared from the entire game. Hmmm..... did I hit a nerve? Beware scammers strike anywhere!
Happiestgirl101
June 05, 2020
Beware of the scammer I met on wwf, Wilson Alfred Joel. On hangouts his name is Alfred Wilson Joel. He sent me a total of about 15 pictures, he is dark with a beard, looks middle eastern. I just called him out after talking with him for a month. I told him I’ve been playing him for the past two weeks, how does it feel? Lol
Malynda
June 05, 2020
I believe I am being scammed. On Instagram a man send me a message claiming to be Scott Speedman (actor) so I agreed to chat. He asked me if I was interested in a meet and greet and I agree. He asked me to move our conversation to Hangout chat room. So we chatted a few days, he showed me his passport to gain my trust. He asked me to contact his manager to set the appointment. I did sent the email but never heard back from manager. I called scammer out on being fake and blocked him. I am surprised that he would show me a passport. It did look real!
Sandy g
June 05, 2020
By the way forgot to mention said his name was Dr. Felix Morrison but he has a Facebook under Adewale Adebayo
Mrm
June 06, 2020
Be on the lookout for a man named Harvey Benjamin, met on Mouse Mingle. Sent YouTube songs, poems, love letters. Very heavy Italian accent. Had a 14 year old daughter with a birthday. Huge independent contact on an oil rig in Norway. Loved me wanted to visit and get married when done. Asked for Amazon GC right away. Then equipment broke, could not access bank, sent code to me, fake account. Then it was send my CC #. I said no. Then it was download a Bitcoin APP. Again I refused. He got real mad, it left him there to die! Do not trust this man!
Susie. I
June 14, 2020

In reply to by Mrm

I think I was speaking to same man for 3 months. They all pretty much sound the same. Professes his love within a few weeks. Love texts, poems. I really fell for it until his worker got hurt on the construction site in Syria. His wallet was stolen,computer broke and I was the only person who cared so he kept hinting for money and a new computer. I really got hurt because I believed him. Thank goodness I found this site
Tennessee baby
June 06, 2020
How to spot a scammer that texts you off messanger. If they claim to be a country singer.
Dos
June 06, 2020
Dos anyone knows man under name:Rivera Brandon He is in Mission in Syria and he told me That He is a general. He is a bold Men and he is got picture with his father on instagram and picture of him in front of USA air craft .
OleanderGirl
June 06, 2020
Hello. I recently met a Philippino girl and we are in a romantic relationship. However, she has also asked me to send money through Western Union since she doesn't have a bank account. Is it genuinely hard to open a bank account in the Philippines or is this a scam?
My Love/My Queen
June 30, 2020

In reply to by OleanderGirl

Its a scam - a pure, true, unadulterated, heartless, cheating, robbing scam. Please, please do not be conned by these scammers whose only job is to extract money from innocent, vulnerable people.
Heart breaker
June 06, 2020
I got scammed by a man named peter palmer. Was working construction in Egypt. Here was white on the one and only vidio chat. Always had excuses why he need money. Food, rent, under clothes, ect. Supposedly lost his suitcase traveling. Then he had me try to transfer money for him. Dad pay is i trusted him and thought i was in love with him. Luckily the bank called me and told me they didn't do the transfer because it surely was a scam. Thank God for ending this. I was so heart broke. I didn't leave my bed for days crying. I couldnt believe someone could play with love like that. I never responded to him after that. I just emailed him a nasty letter telling him he was a scammer and leave me alone. Which he did. I didn't even know what scammer was. It was in like 2010,2011 i just hope he got caught and prayed fire the heart broken women...i think he lived in blue crossing MI. He was big built and had blonde hair shaved and blue eyes. With 2 teen kids and wife and parents got killed in car accident. Who would lie about something like that? Seriously.
rosa munde
June 07, 2020
Beware of a man called Raul Morgan (also uses name Paul Morgan). Very tall, shaved head and white beard. Claims to have 17 year old son at home in Houston Texas. Sons birthday stated as 2nd June. His own d.o.b. Stayed as 6/6/59. Claims to be a marine engineer on boats and that he has been a widower most of his son’s life and employs a male housekeeper to look after his son while he is at sea. Met on tinder and quickly moved to WhatsApp. Spends quite a lot of time phoning as well as texting. Claims he was brought up in Madrid. Has Spanish/American accent. Gets quite romantic fairly quickly. Says his son recommended Tinder as wants a ‘Mum’! Actually got his ‘son’ to start messaging me too! I was suspicious of that but didn’t want to be impolite to him in case it was really his son. Was supposedly docked in Singapore at first and stuck here due to Covid, but then said he was being sent urgently to Brisbane by boat to work on another boat there. Eventually said he was thinking of getting a ‘chopper’ back to Singapore from Brisbane and had 1,000 dollars with him but would try to borrow a couple more from a friend. I suggested he just come back on the boat for free. Then he said he was coming back by boat , then I didn’t hear from him for 2 days, now he sent me a message about being near pirates and needing my help and a lot of nonsense about not wanting to lose the $1500000 he has with him in his safe on the boat etc etc - I told him I was waiting to see what nonsense he was going to come up with as I thought he was a scammer all along and he got quite angry. He is quite plausible in so many ways - even my grown up son was saying he sounded genuine!
Juju20
June 07, 2020
wrote long message 2 days but. never went through
lostintheconfusion
June 07, 2020
I am also being scammed! Started june last year, still talking as i want him caught. Said he was under UN contract was in syria and got injured in a bomb blast with another colleague. States he has been in hospital ever since. He professed his love and admiration from beginning said i was a source for the hopeless. Wants to marry and has even asked. Hes so convincing it’s sickening that i fell for it. He sent me UN paperwork logo and all to make me his beneficiary as his wife died and he had a daughter in the states, first he said she was in boarding school now it’s she’s staying with a close friend whose her teacher. Says his wife cheated with his best friend, hes very religious, Christian always praying . I filled paperwork out and than received an email that i had to pay $550 usd for it to be processed. So i paid it, than came another email that i had to pay a further 5520$ for the hazard $ paperwork to be processed and deposit sent to my acct. we have fought back and forth about this being a scam and he convinced me each time that its not. Ive paid all but $2500 to that and refuse to pay anymore. Ive also sent 1000$ in cards to him. They ate very convincing but im hoping he slips up more so i can get more Location info. Ive got 2 ip addresses from him forgetting to vpn but he had a story of why they show him in ghana.
TargetT
June 17, 2020

In reply to by lostintheconfusion

I totally know what you mean with the live story and convincing. My scammer had timing and details down to a tee. I’m sorry this happened. I’m out $750
MB
June 07, 2020
Watch out for James Kirk, a landscaper who says he lives in Lewisville, TX but is currently in Istanbul, Turkey trying to secure petroleum money owed to him from his late father's estate. He needs $2,000.00 wired to his attorney (included name, address of attorney). His wife died & has a teenage daughter (who was also in a bad car accident & almost died.. Hence not hearing from him in a while). He also refuses to call you by name. Always called me Dear, Babe, Baby, Hun, My Dearest, etc... When I called him out, he sent me a fake US passport photo id of himself. Kept reaching out to me once a month continues to ask for money to help him. Found him 9n Facebook too. Very badic, same pics from POF & FB sites. Had to block him to get rid of him.
kimr
June 16, 2020

In reply to by MB

James Kirk... I would have been all over that one... Bet he was a Star Trek Fan!
MB
June 07, 2020
FYI: Each one of the below men moved our contact to texts, emails & Hangouts immediately after meeting & removed their POF profiles too... Saying they'd wanted to focus on "our relationship". Watch out for Jimmy Stewart, supposed Gemologist working in South Africa. Ran out of funds & needed money to fly back to DFW. Stopped communicating a couple times, then turned it all around on me, blaming me for not staying in touch with him. James Kurt (spelled it wrong in previous comment)...in Turkey. Forgot to mention he has short, greying hair with greying beard. Ancelloti Roberto, a building contractor who works on bridges in Lithuania, who's kids are cared for by nanny...but he needs money wired to pay his work crew & he took the expired credit card with him by mistake. Oh, & he's gonna marry me. Right! Hugo Mason, very German accent & speaks broken English. Works on oil rigs in Nova Scotia, lives in Louisville, KY where hus teen daughter goes to boarding school, but his phone number is a New York City number. He was going to help me out of a bad room mate situation but I had to set up an online bank account, give him the acct # & password so he could deposit money for me. Also asked me to get bitcoin account/money. Kept saying he needed to be able to trust me. Eric Jared in the US Army, stationed in Georgia, almost done & planned on moving to TX to start a family with me & his 2 kids he has custody of due their mother cheating on him & he kicked her out...refused to discuss any details. Got jealous quickly. Very young by his pic, but swore he was in mid 40s. Looked him up...not who he says he is.
Robin
June 07, 2020
Anyone know of a scammer who calls himself Matt, in his mid 50's, taxi driver, says his father was a Zulu tribe member in Africa??
Trapped
June 29, 2020
The same scam : Harryheart7744@ on hangouts, pictures of a smart guy , working for UN as emergency doctor , asking for ITunes cards and later money for applying for vacation to meet you , all fake !
Bengals6666Don…
June 08, 2020
Has anyone heard of Sharon Kennedy?
Mcfccc
June 08, 2020
Harry Giovanni..pretends to be single Dad with 16 year old. Uses photo of Italian model as his profile picture on facebook. Sends friends request to all your female contactS.
Smartypants't …
June 08, 2020
What about a person named alex david who claims to be in syria and is an orthopedic surgeon. He is a widower with a 14 year old son
Worried Daughter
June 09, 2020
Does anyone know a Thomas Scott. This man professed his love to my mother and she has sent him over $30,000. We try talking to her but she doesn't listen. Also a Steven Wilson and supposedly their sons. I think they are all one in the same.. He has her so brain washed. Also this Thomas Scott has her lying to us. Any idea on how to get her to know what I can do to get her to know these are fake people that just want her money. They don't call her by her name. Only honey or baby. I've tried to tell her he calls everyone that because he can't keep names straight when asking for money.
Susie q
September 06, 2020

In reply to by Worried Daughter

Ask him to send a pic of himself touching his ear or sticking out his tongue. He probably wont be able to coz he's not using his picture it will be stolen from someone else. Usually they are african with a photo of a handsome white man. Good luck. Sooo many scammers on 'go scrabble' to.
Boba
June 09, 2020
I had someone that wanted to meet me but they keep stalling the trip and keep asking for money
Sickened
June 09, 2020
I too met someone claiming to be from Texas but is in Turkey and says he’s an architect. He goes by Micheal John with a son named Kelvin. He said he’s in his mid 50s bald, 6 foot tall, with a great build and a distinctive tattoo of a woman’s face on his chest. Said his son lives in Nigeria with his brother-in-law. Said wife died during childbirth. Has asked for iTunes cards, Steam cards, asked for money to be sent western union, money gram and RIA transfer. Says he owes his boss money for being out of work due to being in the hospital. Asking to help his son out and says he needs at least $15,000 to come home and wants to marry me. I reported every name he gave me to western union and money gram and now I’ve been cut off from sending or receiving money to and from my family in the states because I reported fraud. He does have pictures of me but thankfully no dirty pictures. I wonder if my pictures are being used to scam men. We originally connected on Facebook but said his Facebook account was hacked and has been messaging through hangouts. Will never video call because he supposedly has no access to a phone to video call. I’ve called him out and he just got angry saying I was breaking his heart and that I didn’t trust him. I even told him I spoke on video call with the real guy in the picture and he said someone was using his pictures to scam people. He has a distinct accent. I spent time in Africa and his accent is the same as the people I met.
Sickened
June 09, 2020
I have also reported and filed a complaint on this Micheal John with every name address and information on him I had to the federal trade commission. Why is nothing being done to catch this/these guys. I was told by a friend that traced him down that there’s an Internet cafe in Nigeria that people work in groups to scam these people. They are also pinging their isp numbers to different locations and at one point was in California. With all these complaints and familiarity to these posts you would think someone could do something to stop this. I filed my complaint over a year ago and he continued to message me and I just recently blocked him after talking to him for almost two years. When will these people get caught???
Don't usstella…
June 09, 2020
Im very sad and angry i met an Algerianyoung man ..called Oussama. ..in 2018 ....he gatecrashed my Facebook ....he claimed undying love for me .. he spoke beautuful words of romance ....he's only 24 and I'm 50 ....soon he keep ask for money ...I have him lots of money over 2 years ....from begging almost ..he planto marry me ....and i agreed .....I was so in love ....but not long after he become very controlling and passive agressive ....he make me stay in my house for year ....said he get jealous if I go out ....I've deleted him now ....oh yes ...he told me to come of Facebook ....so i did ...and all time he had about 10 Facebook acounts and instigram ..I was so Angry ....I'm so sad ....yes of course I've been scammed ... keep a look out for this young man ....he is very dangetious ...and brainwash me .....he also uses name Somsom .....Stella ..
TargetT
June 10, 2020
New scammer alert! This one tried to use Lay Zhang from the China. I ran with it for three weeks exactly. It started from IG and moved to google hangout. Tonight was the money ask. They are so advanced with the build up story. The love came, the what ifs, then the drama. He had to go to court and pay a fee. He could use his account because it was frozen. Needed $30k by Monday (5days). I did not fold into the scam but concerned and know that someone will. I risked a couple of pictures. This person(s) is sick. We had even prayed. God help them in their evil way. Because anyone that could use a woman going through a bad time with a kid is just heartless. Be careful out there.
TargetT
June 17, 2020

In reply to by TargetT

I continued to go along with this and got scammed out of money. I have accepted it but wanted to get as much info as I could to report it. The scam was via cash app and gift cards. Watch out for Michele Poppin as a cousin.
Busted
June 10, 2020
My Sweedish engineer was Michael Good working on an oil rig in UK waters. Stuck on rig due to pandemic. Didn't find him on dating site. He messaged me on Facebook. Said we liked the same page. Wanted to be friends. Sounded innocent. Quickly wanted to text on phone. Then called. Lost wife to cancer 9 years ago. No kids . No family except for sick 92 year old mother. Needed iTunes card to get private internet
Geneva
June 10, 2020
I am currently talking to someone, who already screwed me. Tried sending $100 to cash app. Thank goodness that account came back as fraudulent, (some maudie girl, named Vicky Lynn Scott, on cash app) and my bank returned the money. I knew he/she was a scammer from the get go. I have them believing my account is frozen. LOL. Anyway, I'm not sending money unless I get a physical address. He says his camera don't dont work. So he cant video chat. Has yet to call either. Something fishey!! I'm just playing along with them, its hilarious! We will see how it goes, when he dont give me his address. He goes by Raymond Costello, apparently from Fort Briggs, NC. I have pictures. Was tempted to contact the fire department on facebook to see if anyone there knows the guy. Hmmm.
mari
June 11, 2020
Phillip Nicolas- I encountered him, too! Thankfully I started to research and found this site... please ladies, be careful!
butterfly
June 11, 2020
anyone know Anthony Harrison from denmark.Supposed to be an engineer? just a scammer.
Frusteder!
June 11, 2020
I am at my wit’s end trying to smack sense into my friend and roommate: she has been caught up in a romance scam from some guy in Ghana claiming to be an American SCOTT GLENN DAVIS who went there to sell his grandfathers gold bars.... blah blah. Of course he had just been mugged and left penniless on his way to the bank.. and now has been stranded due to Covid19. This man has had her thru so many schemes, oepened credits cards then overrun, bank accounts overdrafted and closed, I don’t know how many money card aches, plus sending a Western Union every month. Then she got BANNED from Wester Union, so began to make my life absolutely miserable until I agreed to send them for her. And no matter how many times I tell her IT IS DONE there is a problem with one of the transfers and I have to help her get it back! And we are both Seniors living on Social Security!
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