WhatsApp Scam Reports
Romance Scam
What is a Romance Scam scam?
A stranger builds a personal or romantic relationship over weeks or months, then invents an emergency, travel cost, or investment "opportunity" that requires you to send money.
6 reports on file · refreshed live on every request · most recent
Red flags to watch for
- The relationship escalates to declarations of love within days of first contact.
- They always have a reason they cannot video call or meet in person.
- Photos are professional-looking or reverse-image-search to someone else entirely.
- Money, gift cards, or crypto come up before you have ever met in person.
What to do
Ask for an unscripted video call early, and be skeptical of every reason it keeps getting postponed. Reverse-image-search their photos. Treat any request for money, gift cards, or crypto as a hard stop, no matter how the relationship feels at that point.
How common this is, officially
IC3's "Confidence/Romance" category received 23,159 complaints in 2025, with reported losses of $929 million.
— FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Internet Crime Report
Reports tagged Romance Scam
6 reports filed under Romance Scam, most recently on . Romance Scam ranks #1 of 6 scam types on file by report volume.
- 1🇳🇬 Nigeria3 reports
- 2🇾🇪 Yemen1 report
- 3🇭🇰 Hong Kong1 report
6 matching reports
Frequently asked questions
How is a scam type determined for a report?
The reporter selects it when filing, from a fixed list of common patterns -- not inferred automatically from the notes.
What if a report matches more than one pattern?
Reporters pick the single closest match. Read the notes on each report for the full description, which often blends more than one tactic.
How often is this page updated?
Immediately — every count here reflects the reports on file in real time, not a periodic snapshot.
Report this to official agencies
This case file is a self-reported community record, not an official investigation. If you were targeted, consider also filing a report with a national or international fraud authority:
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)United States
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)United States
- Action FraudUnited Kingdom
- Scamwatch (ACCC)Australia
- Canadian Anti-Fraud CentreCanada
- CERT NZNew Zealand
- National Cyber Crime Reporting PortalIndia
- ScamShieldSingapore
- Anti-Deception Coordination CentreHong Kong
- EuropolEuropean Union
- INTERPOLGlobal
- econsumer.gov (ICPEN)Cross-border complaints