The FBI announced on Thursday that over 24,000 Americans have lost a reported $1 billion due to romance scammers.
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The Federal Trade Commission reported that romance scammers contributed to a loss of $547 million in 2021 and noted that cryptocurrency was one of the main sources of payment. According to Forbes, the individual median loss in cryptocurrency was $9,770 as scammers used different methods to manipulate their victims with fake cryptocurrency investment advice.
Additional data showed that the overall age of the victims who were mostly affected by the scams were people aged 18 to 29 who reportedly lost between $750 to $9,770. In California, the demographic changed to people who were 60 and older.
“While these schemes affect victims from all demographics, older adults are the most targeted group. Last year, the age group with the highest victim reports within our region was 60 years and older, with a victim count of 193 and a dollar amount loss of over $18 million.”
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Most of the victims are targeted on dating apps and the FTC said they were also contacted on Facebook or Instagram. Another contributing factor is the increase in dating app usage due to the coronavirus pandemic where the scammers could create fake dating profiles to target their victims.