GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — North Carolina is the No. 15 most catfished state with 539 victims losing a record $17 million in 2021, up from $14 million in 2020, according to a study released by SocialCatfish.com.
The study uses FBI and FTC data released in March and February 2022.
Despite government warnings and shows like Netflix’s “Tinder Swindler” raising pop culture awareness, romance scams have become the No.1 type of fraud recorded by the FTC with victims losing $1.5 billion in the last five years, according to the study. Nationally, a record $547 million was lost to romance scams in 2021, up from $304 million in 2020.
The average catfishing victim in North Carolina lost $32,194 last year.
The top five states for catfishing losses were California ($184 million stolen), Florida ($70 million), Texas ($65 million), New York ($58 million), and Washington ($32 million). The bottom five states were Maine ($386,894 stolen), Vermont ($528,709), D.C. ($861,723), New Hampshire ($1 million), and Arkansas ($1.2 million). Only seven states and Washington D.C. lost less money to romance scams in 2021 than they did in 2020.
SocialCatfish shared these five romance scams to avoid in 2022:
How to Avoid: Never provide your bank information, or send and accept wire transfers to someone you do not know in real life.
How to Avoid: Never invest money with anyone you meet online. If you want to invest in Crypto, use well-known Apps like Crypto.com, Coinbase and PayPal.
How to Avoid: Teenagers should never send money or give personal information to anyone they have not met in person. Parents need to talk to their children and vice versa as romance scams now impact every generation in the family.
How to Avoid: Do a reverse image search to confirm if the person in the photos goes by the same name as the person who friend requested you on social media.
How to Avoid: If your online love interest asks for a gift card, that is a huge red flag and do not send any.
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