25% of dating platform users report being scammed - survey

1,829 participants from 140 countries answered the survey, mainly single, young (18-35) and male. A staggering 25% of them reported having lost money in a dating scam. The median amount lost was USD 200 and the highest amount lost was over USD 1.2 million. Men lose on average three times as much as women. The most named dating scams are extortion scams, investment scams, fake profiles, and unexpected requests for money, according to the survey.

While only 7% of all scams are reported, this is not the case for Romance scams. More than a third of online dating scams went unreported. The victims did not inform any parties, such as the dating site or app, the bank, law enforcement, consumer protection organisations or online review websites. Those who did report the scam reported it mainly to the dating site or app or to the social media platform used. 77% reported the scam to multiple parties.