Dating site scams (Fake Date)

Main article: Dating sites

2025

From pilots to cryptomillionaires: The Ministry of Internal Affairs told how Russians are deceived on dating sites

Scammers on dating sites most often impersonate doctors, military or journalists. This gives them the opportunity to come up with a touching story and put pressure on pity in order to deceive gullible citizens. The tricks of Internet swindlers are described in the material MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia released at the end of September 2025.

Fraudsters, as noted, quickly move to an emotional conversation and within a few days after meeting can confess to a potential victim in love or deep affection. In addition, attackers often impersonate successful businessmen. In this scenario, after admitting sympathy, the false entrepreneur offers to teach the interlocutor an investment strategy for free, which allegedly helped him become a "cryptomillionaire." However, as a result, the project will be a bench, and the victim's money will fall to the swindlers.

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Фото: Freepik

To implement fraudulent schemes, attackers post fake questionnaires on dating sites or Telegram bots. As a rule, profiles indicate the age from 23 to 27 years, high-quality photos are posted and common interests are given, including sports, cinema and travel. The middle Russian city is called as a place of residence. After that, the swindlers are rubbed into trust in the victim using text and voice messages, as well as video recordings.

Scenarios for further actions may vary depending on the reaction of the interlocutor and other factors. For example, attackers under the guise of an attractive girl from another city can invite the victim to a meeting. At the same time, fraudsters ask to buy a train or plane ticket. To do this, the user is sent a link to a fake ticket aggregator, and the money in case of payment goes to the attackers.^[1]

A businessman from Smolensk gave ₽52 million to his Internet lover, whom he had never seen

In early June 2025, it became known that an entrepreneur from Smolensk transferred ₽52 million to a woman whom he met on a dating site and communicated exclusively in correspondence for three years. A man born in 1969 contacted the police in mid-May 2025, suspecting a fraudulent scheme.

According to the press service of the Russian MIA Administration for the Smolensk Region, employees of the criminal investigation department and the department for combating the illegal use of information and communication technologies detained four women involved in the theft of funds from a Smolensk businessman.

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Фото: Freepik

The story began in December 2021, when the entrepreneur met a stranger through an Internet dating platform. Initially, their conversations dealt with common topics, but soon the interlocutor invited him to invest money in the purchase of land in the Saratov region with the prospect of profitable resale.

Believing in the profitability of the proposed investment, the Smolensk resident for three years regularly transferred various amounts to bank accounts indicated by his virtual acquaintance. The entire period of their acquaintance, a man and a woman kept in touch only remotely, without meeting in person.

When the total amount of funds transferred reached ₽52 million, the businessman began to suspect deception and decided to contact law enforcement agencies. The Investigation Department of the Russian MIA Administration for the city of Smolensk opened a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia.

During the operational-search activities, the police established the whereabouts of the suspects in the Saratov region. Smolensk operatives went on a business trip and, with the forceful support of the SOBR of the Russian Guard in the Saratov region, detained in a private house on the territory of a horticultural non-profit partnership.

As a result of the operation, four women aged 20 to 35 were detained. Mobile phones and bank cards were seized from the suspects, which were allegedly used to cash out stolen funds.

The detainees were taken to Smolensk for investigative actions. Two of them, the court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention. In relation to the other two suspects, a coercive measure was applied in the form of an obligation to appear.^[2]

2024: How scammers made $46 million using beautiful video subdipfakes to meet on sites

In mid-October 2024, Hong Kong police arrested 27 people on suspicion of committing fraud using the technology of replacing persons (video lipfakes) in order to get acquainted on sites on the Internet. As a result of this scheme, the victims lost about $46 million.

According to the South China Morning Post, among the detainees were six university graduates allegedly recruited to create fake trading platforms. Attackers used artificial intelligence to create images of attractive girls, after which they used these images to meet men. In addition, video dypfakes were used during phone calls.

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Фото: Freepik

After the development of a romantic relationship, cybercriminals convinced their victims to invest in fake crypto platforms. Members of the group provided users with fabricated income statements, indicating high business returns. In addition, fraudsters discussed plans for the future with victims, creating a false sense of successful investments. According to police, men from Hong Kong, mainland, and were among the victims China Taiwan. India Singapore Criminals found their victims through social media and dating sites.

According to reports, the five detainees are suspected of having links to Sun Yee On, one of the largest organised crime groups in Hong Kong and China. As part of the operation, police seized computers, mobile phones and about $25,750 in alleged criminal proceeds. As of mid-October 2024, the investigation is ongoing, and therefore further arrests have not been ruled out. According to law enforcement agencies, each member of the group could earn tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars per month.^[3]

2022

Fraudsters earned $1.3 billion on scams through dating sites in the United States

In 2022, romantic scams online grew at a record pace, in those 12 months the victims of such fraud in the United States lost more than $1.3 billion. A published report by the US Federal Trade Commission in mid-February 2023 notes that Internet dating apps have become the main method of extracting funds for online scammers.

The scheme of romantic scams has already been called "CryptoRom," which means "Crypto Mantics." Since the beginning of 2014, it has been actively used by fraudsters from Asia, and since the end of 2019 it has been adopted by criminals from Europe and the United States.

Victims of fraud on dating sites in the United States lost more than $1.3 billion

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in 2022, almost 70 thousand people in the United States reported fraud in the field of romantic relations. The average declared loss is $4.4 thousand.

Romantic scammers often use dating apps to find people looking for love, victims of scammers have reported. But even more common are reports of romantic scams, which begin with unexpected private messages on social media. In fact, 40% of people who reported losing money in 2022 said contact started on social media on a website or apps. Many people reported that the fraudster then quickly transferred his conversation to WhatsApp, Google Chat and Telegram.

According to the department, fraudsters convince users to share candid photos, then threaten to share them with the victims' contacts on social networks. People aged 18-29 were six times more likely to report scams than people aged 30 and over.

In 2022, the average reported individual loss was $750, when gift cards were indicated as a payment method in reports of romantic scams. For comparison, the average individual losses in other main payment methods were as follows: $10.079 (cryptocurrency), $10,000 (bank transfer or payment) and $650 (payment application or service).

According to the FTC, losses from romantic scams from all sources by year: $493 million in 2019, $730 million in 2020, $1.17 billion in 2021, $1.3 billion in 2022. Because the vast majority of scams are not reported by the U.S. government, these figures reflect only a fraction of the public damage.^[4]

Obtaining 5 years in colony

At the end of November 2022, the Butyrsky Court of Moscow sentenced the marriage swindler Nodirzhon Rakhmanov to five years in prison for fraud using dating sites. Read more here.

2021

Americans have been deceived on dating sites for $1.3 billion in 5 years

In 2021, romance fraud on the Internet reached a record level in the United States. According to the US Federal Trade Commission, in 2021, $547 million losses were registered in the country, and in total over 5 years, consumers lost at least $1.3 billion on scams using dating sites.

Fake profiles, stolen photos and videos, smitten stories of scammers, for example, their car broke down, all these tricks designed to arouse interest and sympathy. Schemes can be more subtle than direct requests for money. In past cases, users were lured into explicit webcam sessions and then blackmailed. In other cases, dating apps and social media are used as channels to advertise cryptocurrencies and financial scams.

Americans have been deceived on dating sites for $1.3 billion in 5 years

Data collected by the US department since 2017 shows that in 2021 recorded losses increased by almost 80% compared to 2020 and as a whole, the trend continues to grow. On average, the victim user loses 2.4 thousand, but this figure can be either lower or much higher.

In 2021, $547 million in losses from fraud on dating sites were registered in the United States

Another trend is when romantic scammers cash in on cryptocurrency. This is how it works, a fraudster communicates with his victim long enough to gain her trust, and then offers her a profitable and urgent business deal, if the victim user invests in this cryptocurrency exchange or financial product, then attackers make an interest profit. The problem is that funds sent to a wallet owned by a fraudster will never be legally invested or refunded. Or the victim can be lured to download a fake cryptocurrency trading application, which will lead to the theft of its funds and confidential data. The US Federal Trade Commission claims that the average loss of consumers in cryptocurrency scams is about $10 thousand^[5]FTC

Scheme of work of fraudsters with an invitation to false notices

In mid-October 2021, experts from the information security company Group-IB spoke about the increasingly popular method of fraud on dating sites. For three years, the Fake Date scheme was used by two dozen scam groups, the revenue of only one of them for the year amounted to more than 18 million rubles.

Using the Fake Date scheme, attackers from an account allegedly designed for a pretty lonely girl get acquainted with men. Acquaintance takes place in special services such as Tinder and Badoo, or social networks. After that, the fraudster transfers the conversation to the messenger (most often Telegram) and invites him on a date to the theater or to other similar events.

In the messenger, the attacker indicates that he allegedly already has one ticket for the specified event. He shows the interlocutor a QR code as confirmation of the ticket and offers to buy a neighboring place. The transmitted QR code and link lead to a fake site with the details of scammers. As a result, the man loses money, and the scammers no longer get in touch.

Specialists by October 2021 counted at least 24 teams of fraudsters working under the Fake Date scheme, and their number is growing from year to year. So, in 2019 - 2 groups, 2020 - 7 groups, 2021 - 15 groups. True, not all of them are already operating. In the course of the study, analysts found links between the domain names of phishing sites from the Fake Date scheme with resources from the popular Courier (or Mammoth) scheme, aimed at stealing money and user bank card data using fake sites of popular courier services and marketplaces. Moreover, in some cases, the sites were registered by the same people.

Group-IB researchers have discovered more than 700 domains of similar fake sites disguised as theaters, stand-up concerts, restaurants, hookah bars, SPA centers and other places.^[6]

2020: Damage from fraud through dating sites grew by 50%, to $304 million

The damage from fraud through dating sites around the world was a record year in 2020, according to data from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent directives on social distancing could play an important role in this.

Total losses from the actions of swindlers on dating sites are estimated at $304 million, which is almost 50% more than the damage suffered in 2019. The average loss is estimated at $2,500 per person.

Dynamics of the growth of reports of fraud through dating sites and damage from such scams

From 2016 to 2020, the total damage more than quadrupled, and the number of reports [about scams on dating sites - approx. TAdviser] almost tripled, the agency said in a statement.

The FTC believes that the damage increase recorded in 2020 could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has limited people's ability to meet in person and forced users to use long-distance and impersonal online communications such as dating apps.

Fraudsters find a far-fetched reason to send money, and then ask their partner to return the funds - to them or to anyone else. People are just trying to help those who care about them, but in fact they are laundering stolen goods, - explained the FTC employees. - In many cases, that money turned out to be stolen unemployment benefits.

Damage from fraud through dating sites for 2020 turned out to be a record, the average loss is estimated at $2500 per person

The FTC also warned that many love scams don't start on dating apps, but on social media. Fraud often begins with an unexpected request for friends or a message, but sooner or later these people always ask for money, usually looking for pitiful pretexts. The most common forms of transferring money from victims were gift cards, which grew by 70% compared to 2019. Electronic transfers follow.

In 2020, fraud affected all age groups, not just seniors, according to the FTC. Most of the victims in the 40-69 group, and victims over the age of 70 reported the highest average damage (~ $9,475).^[7]

Notes