True love’s cost might be incalculable, but the cost of romance scams totaled at least $304 million in 2020.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, the Federal Trade Commission says, because many victims of romance scams are embarrassed to come forward.
The number of romance scams continues to rise. Over the past three years, people have reported losing more money on them than any other fraud reported to the FTC.
The incidence of these scams — typically run on dating apps and over social media — increased among all age groups last year, with losses estimated at $304 million, up about 50% from 2019, the FTC says, with older people particularly targeted.
Kate Kleinert, a widow in Pennsylvania, told the Senate Special Committee on Aging last month she got caught up in a romance scam that cost her about $39,000.
After getting a friend request on Facebook in August 2020, Kleinert began corresponding with the man on another app. “Tony” said he was in Iraq on a contract with the United Nations. After he asked, she sent gift cards to him and his children.
He said he planned to meet her in Philadelphia in December but didn’t show. Someone purporting to be Tony’s lawyer called, saying he needed $20,000 for Tony’s bail.
“The lawyer told me to do whatever I could — put a mortgage on my house, borrow it from someone in my family,” she testified. “I couldn’t do it.”
Eventually, “I was living off my credit cards, and he was getting what I took from Social Security and my pension,” she said.“It’s so devastating, and many people have been through this but not spoken about it.”
Romance scammers bilked adults 60 or older out of more than $139 million during 2020. That’s up 65% over 2019, according to a new FTC report.
Among scams the FTC tracks, romance scams made up the highest reported losses for those 60 to 79 years old. And those 70 and older reported the highest median losses: $9,475.80.
Opportunities for romance scammers have risen during the pandemic as older adults spent more time on social media.
“It doesn’t always mean they’re looking for love,” said Patti Poss, a senior attorney in the FTC’s consumer protection bureau. “It’s that they just report that the scammer starts with an unexpected friend request or a message.
“Scammers are very sophisticated. They know what they’re doing, to be able to tell these stories, develop a relationship and get people’s money. You may not think you’re sending something to a stranger because it is somebody that you think you know at that point.”
Victims say scammers often uses the pandemic to explain requests for money or their inability to meet in person, the FTC says. Older adults reported losses of $10.5 million on romance scams related to COVID-19.
Read more at USA Today.
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