How to Protect Yourself Against Romance Scams

Scammers often try to exploit people’s vulnerabilities and search for love through romance scams. The result can be highly profitable for them and highly damaging for the victims of cybercrime. We have put together a guide to romance scams so you can better protect yourself and others.

What are romance scams?

Romance scams involve criminals manipulating unsuspecting victims into believing they’re in a genuine relationship, only to exploit their trust for money or sensitive information. These scams often begin on social media, dating apps or messaging platforms, where scammers create fake profiles and carefully craft emotional connections, sometimes over days, weeks, months or even years. 

By toying with a victim’s emotions and capitalising on their vulnerabilities, scammers can be extremely successful – all while operating under fake names, profile photos and details. These tactics protect the scammer’s true identity, making it very difficult for victims or authorities to trace them and enabling scammers to disappear quickly and move on to new targets. 

Since 2020, romance scams have seen a staggering 60% increase, with approximately 40,000 cases reported between January 2020 and December 2024. These scams, which result in an average loss of £10,000 per victim and affect both men and women equally, inflict serious emotional, psychological and financial harm. As these scams become increasingly sophisticated, especially with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it’s more important than ever to recognise and avoid the warning signs before it’s too late. 

The history of romance scams

Although online messaging and dating apps have made romance scams easier than ever to carry out, romance scams are not a new phenomenon. Long before the internet, similar scams existed through letters, personal ads and even face-to-face interactions. In the 16th century, the ‘Spanish Prisoner’ was a letter-writing romance scam which preyed upon businessmen. A con artist posed as a wealthy member of Spanish society and claimed to have a beautiful daughter who needed to be married. The con artist would then plead for money to help his daughter escape.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, ‘confidence men’ would exploit romantic interests or social connections to swindle money or valuables from their victims. More recently, men would frequently be targeted via ads in adult magazines, where they would be tricked into believing they were entering a relationship with an attractive woman and would later be conned.

Unfortunately, as a crime, romance fraud is severely under-reported due to the feelings of shame, embarrassment and betrayal that victims often experience. Many are reluctant to come forward, fearing judgment from friends, family or authorities. Therefore, the full history of romance scams remains largely hidden. 

The biggest romance scams

Romance scams aren’t always isolated incidents between two individuals. In many cases, they’re part of large, well-organised operations that target hundreds of victims at once. These scams can be run by international criminal networks or opportunistic individuals who utilise tools such as AI or pre-existing scripts, which they copy and reuse across various platforms. Here are a few of the most pervasive romance scams:

Nigerian romance scams:

Nigerian romance scams are a notorious form of fraud that, as the name implies, originates from Nigeria. With a distinct design, these scams target specific individuals with tailored photos, backstories and details. Operating under false identities, these scammers create a sense of trust and often pose as foreign military officers, oil workers or entrepreneurs. Once a connection is established, these fraudsters proceed to ‘love bomb’ their victims and eventually request money, usually for urgent and believable reasons. These scams are not generic copy-and-paste requests but well-researched and highly personalised attacks.

Crypto romance scams (pig butchering):

Pig butchering is a highly lucrative romance scam that has victimised millions of people across the globe. In this scam, fraudsters enter into fake relationships with their victims via online dating websites and proceed to dupe them into investing in fake cryptocurrency platforms. These investments appear legitimate, showing false profits, until the scammer vanishes with the funds. 

Tinder swindlers: 

Simon Leviev, whose real name is Shimon Hayut, posed as a billionaire heir to a diamond empire. By operating on popular dating apps, he charmed women with luxury travel, five-star hotels and extravagant gifts as part of an elaborate illusion. He would even meet his victims face-to-face and introduce them to a whole host of people, such as his bodyguard, driver and personal assistant. Once he had gained their trust and affection, Simon would claim his life was in danger and insist he couldn’t use his financial accounts for safety reasons.

At this point, he would begin requesting money. Emotionally entangled victims took out credit cards, loans and even remortgaged homes to send thousands of pounds, believing they'd be paid back. Instead, the scam followed a classic Ponzi-like structure as Leviev used money from one victim to fund the lavish courtship of the next. It’s estimated that this romance scam conned victims of a combined total of seven to ten million pounds across the UK and Europe. Leviev was eventually jailed but has since been released, and much of the money has never been recovered. 

Romance scam warning signs

The UK has the third highest number of dating app users in the world, with more than 11 million people currently searching for love online. This makes the UK a prime target for romance scams, simply because of the high number of potential victims. These fraudsters employ a variety of manipulative tactics, ranging from crude schemes to highly sophisticated deceptions. Below are some common romance scam tactics to watch out for:

• Fake profiles: Scammers often steal images from other profiles or websites to create a convincing but fake identity. Overly attractive profiles that seem recently created, have few friends or followers, or contain inconsistent information should raise suspicion.
• Quick declarations of love: Scammers often profess their love early in the relationship and may attempt to escalate the relationship quickly, sending frequent, over-the-top romantic messages.
• Urgent financial requests: After gaining the victims’ trust, the scammers invent time-sensitive emergencies, pleading for money to cover plane tickets, hospital bills or legal issues.
• Moving conversations off-platform: Scammers quickly try to move the conversation from the dating platform to free messaging platforms, where the conversation is not bound by rules that allow you to report or ban individuals.
• Video call avoidance: There will always be a reason they avoid video calls, citing reasons such as broken technology or unstable remote connections.
  Avoiding meeting in person: Similarly to video calls, scammers may avoid or cancel opportunities to meet in person.
• Emotional manipulation: Scammers will often emotionally manipulate and guilt-trip their victims when they try to question their behaviour. 

How to protect yourself against romance scams 

While all of this may sound unsettling, you can still use dating sites and social media platforms to build genuine and safe connections. Staying informed about the latest scams and remaining vigilant – for both yourself and those you care about – is an excellent form of fraud protection. There are also some other ways you can stay safe in your quest for love:

• Be cautious with personal information: Avoid sharing sensitive details, such as your full address or financial information.
• Stay on your guard: No matter how much time you have spent speaking to someone online, remain wary. Some scammers play the long game when it comes to gaining their victims’ trust.
• Verify identities: Search for the scammer’s name online and see if you can find out more about them. Use reverse image searches and video calls to confirm their identity.
• Ask questions: Don’t rush into relationships; instead, ask plenty of questions and watch out for any inconsistencies. Trust your intuition if things don’t feel right.

Guard your heart – and your wallet

While online dating sites and social media platforms can lead to meaningful and lasting relationships, they also come with real risks. These scams don’t just target your bank account – they target your trust, your hopes and your vulnerabilities. That’s why at Guavapay, we’re committed to raising awareness and encouraging open, honest conversations about online safety. Remember: real love doesn’t come with ultimatums, secrecy or sudden financial requests. Trust your instincts: if something feels off, it probably is. Don’t be afraid to challenge the people you meet online and confide in those you trust.
If you have experienced an incident of romance fraud, we recommend that you report it immediately to Action Fraud UK, either online or by phone. If you’ve already sent money to a scammer, notify your bank immediately. Taking action not only increases your chances of getting justice, it can also help prevent others from falling victim to similar scams.