The story of Peaches Stergo of Champions Gate, Florida, has been dominating the headlines recently. She used romance scams to steal $2.8 million dollars from a 87 year old man in new York. According to Fox, Peaches “met the victim on a dating website several years ago, then started asking to borrow money to pay an attorney in early 2017 so that he would release funds from an injury settlement that didn’t actually exist, according to the indictment.” Over the next four and a half years, she managed to convince him to write 62 checks worth more than $2.8 million dollars. She spent his money on expensive clothes and accessories. Cars, SUVs, and a boat. Then treated herself to expensive vacations. The man lost his life savings and eventually his apartment. Peaches faces up to 20 years in prison, but for the man, the damage is done. So how does this happen?
A new study shows Americans lost a record $1.3 billion to romance scams in 2022, up 138% from $547 million in 2021. This marks the largest single-year hike over the past five years. Florida ranks No. 3 with 1,474 victims losing $53.4 million in 2022. The average loss per victim in Florida was $36,236. The states with the Most Total Money Lost were California ($158M), Texas ($60.3M), Florida ($53.4M), New York ($33.5M), and Arizona ($25.4M).
The Most Common Lie Used in Romance Scams:
Being “sick, hurt or in jail” was the most common lie used in 24% of scams. The No. 2 lie was “I can teach you how to invest”. That was used in 18% of scams. Those are trigger phrases. But as people grow wise to them, new romance scams develop. Here’s some others to watch out for.
Celebrity Romance Scam: Scammers pretend to be celebrities on social media. One victim sent money to a fake Nicolas Cage and another wised up before sending a fake Keanu Reeves $400,000 to help him finance the John Wick movie.
Cryptocurrency Romance Scams: Fraudsters claim to have gotten rich in crypto. They convince the victim to invest with them by downloading an app. While the app even has data showing return on investment, it is all just a scam. I see this scam on Twitter a lot. Don’t fall for it.
Military Romance scams: Scammers steal military photos and go on dating site claiming to be stationed overseas. Being so far away means they can’t meet you in person.. That’s when they ask for money to fly back to the U.S. so they can finally meet you and the two of you can be together. Don’t fall for it.
And of course, the one used by Peaches Stergo. I need money to pay an attorney so I can get my settlement and pay you back. Anytime you meet someone ‘out of the blue’ and they, at some point, ask you for money, be aware. The nearly 3 million dollars this one man in New York lost is just a fraction of the 1.3 billion dollars in romance scams that were pulled last year.
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