How to Catch a Scammer in Romance Scams

“Social media platforms and dating apps are by far the biggest sources of romance scams, which is no surprise considering how the dating landscape has changed over the decades.”

— Kirsty Adams, Fraud and Scams Expert at Barclays

As technology advances, so do the methods of scammers. These days, with AI and lenient dating and social media platform protection, it’s become harder to catch a scammer in the act. Despite the improvement in cybersecurity, many people are still falling for romance scams.

According to the Barclays Scam Bulletin, romance scam reports rose to 20% in the first quarter of 2025. One in 10 adults in the UK has been targeted by romance scammers.

Online dating and romance have grown more popular over the years; hence, it has become the perfect breeding ground for scammers looking to fool potential victims. Scams on dating sites are becoming more prevalent with the help of AI technology.

With that said, it’s time the internet strikes back by learning how to catch a scammer. Spotting a romance scam is easier once you know how the mind of a scammer works.

Knowing how they work does not necessarily mean you should be scamming the scammers. To effectively combat scammers, it's important to understand the nature of romance scams: What do they seek and how do they get it?

Romance scams are very different from your usual social media scams. Unlike a Facebook scammer, a romance scammer will go to great lengths to emotionally manipulate their victims, often through love bombing.

They also create a sense of urgency, framing situations as emergencies, to gaslight you into giving in to their demands.

To better understand romance scams, take note of these:

How often does scamming take place on a dating site?

Every day, there’s a scam taking place—whether it’s towards a young adult looking for a transactional relationship or an elderly man looking for a lover. Romance scammers are not afraid to engage with anyone.

They linger around the app and match with wealthy-looking or desperate men—convincing them they’re a woman looking for a relationship. The more frequent the scams are on a dating site, the higher your chances of meeting one.

Scammers are also human. That said, many of them don’t have the patience to drag out the conversation. Hence, if someone is moving too fast, chances are they’re a scammer.

There’s a difference between a person looking for love and a person desperate to lure you into a scam.

While they both possess the capabilities of love bombing a person, a scammer will rush into romance, often falling in love quickly; meanwhile, a person looking for love will want to take their time getting to know you better.

Scammers might be smart, but they are certainly not without errors—they’re just humans after all. To identify a scammer, you will need to take note of a few details.

Always check the profile pictures!

Scammers will steal other people’s photos, especially women’s. They’ll make alterations to the photos to make them look unique, such as cropping them. What they often fail to realize is that the quality of an image deteriorates when it is cropped from its original size and downloaded from a third-party source.

You can reverse image search their photos to find where they might be from. If someone’s social media profile comes up, cross-reference their details with the person on the dating site.

Aside from stealing other people’s photos, scammers also take advantage of AI-generated imagery. Nowadays, AI images have become so realistic that they are harder to spot with your naked eye. AI is now capable of generating lifelike images of people. To know whether the picture was generated, you can download or screenshot their image and upload it to an online AI detector.

Most dating apps now implement a verification system that requires users to complete a selfie scan of their face. This process ensures that the photos on their profiles genuinely belong to them. A badge of verification is placed on their profile to show other users that they are a real person.

Many dating apps also require users to include a bio with a minimum of 100-200 characters. Although not everyone fills out their profiles, it's a good practice to review their bios for any inconsistencies or strange details. 

Many legitimate users don’t follow the verification process, but it is better to steer clear of those who aren’t verified by the app. While bios aren't crucial evidence, they can help you identify any inconsistencies they might mention during conversations.

It's not enough to spot a scammer; you also need to know what to do when you find yourself interacting with one.

The first thing you need to remember is NOT to panic. Doing so will only alert the scammer and make them defensive. Once they know you're into their ruse, they might resort to threats or even blackmail.

If you don't want to deal with them any further, you can always block them on the app. However, if you think blocking them isn't enough to stop them, you can do the following:

You don't necessarily have to scam them back. What you need to do is to play along with their conversation and keep them chatting with you for as long as possible.

Scammers don't have the patience to deal with long conversations because they want to scam as many people as possible. Once they realize you won't budge, they will see you as a waste of time and leave you alone.

Dating apps have the option to report users if they are harassing or trying to scam you. What you need to do is to document the conversation in case you need evidence of their scams.

Once you have everything you need, you can go to their profile and report them. Reporting them ensures their profile will be taken down by the dating app, preventing them from victimizing other people.

If you can’t prevent the scammer from taking advantage of you, don’t panic; you can still have someone in a position of authority investigate the matter. It may take some time for them to finish, but at least they will be informed about what happened.

Fraud is a crime, so what you want to do is contact your state’s cybercrime division, as well as contact a cybersecurity firm to help track down the scammer. While you’re at it, you might want to inform your bank if you managed to send money to the scammer.

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Scammers have been destroying people’s lives even before online dating. While we can only do so little, it’s best we at least try to show these scammers that we will not be persuaded by their whim. Protect yourself with knowledge so you can navigate the online dating scene with confidence.

References

n.d. What to Know About Romance Scams | Consumer Advice. Accessed July 30, 2025. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-romance-scams.

“Barclays Scams Bulletin: Romance scam reports rise 20 per cent as online dating hits 30-year anniversary.” 2025. https://home.barclays/news/press-releases/2025/04/barclays-scams-bulletin--romance-scam-reports-rise-20-per-cent-a/.

Martin, James. 2025. “How many people have been scammed? (2025 statistics).” Exploding Topics. https://explodingtopics.com/blog/number-of-scams.