WALL STREET JOURNAL – Americans reported losing ~$1.3B in romance-related fraud from 2017 to 2021, according to the FTC, greater than any other category of fraud tracked by the agency. Scammers typically target older, poorer, less educated and single people. Women are reported to lose more significant sums of money. In the majority of cases, the victims are older than 40, with 50 to 59 being the most vulnerable. Data also suggest that the degree of financial loss increases with the age of the victim. Dating sites should have built-in technical trust-building mechanisms. Simple two-factor authentication can substantially reduce the number of fake accounts by weeding out less-sophisticated scammers. The industry also needs to develop a web-assurance seal program – an outside agency that monitors and ensures that sites comply with the policies.
by Bart Ziegler
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