Amount of money Ohioans lose in romance scams is not ‘lovely’

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) -With Valentine’s Day this week, the FBI is warning people about romance scams that are stealing millions from Ohioans every year.

According to the FBI, in 2023 Ohioans lost $15.3 million in confidence fraud and romance scheme cases.

This number is more than likely higher, based on people who have been scammed and are to ashamed or embarrassed to report the crime to authorities.

The script is almost always the same: A scammer befriends a person on a dating website or social media and slowly gains trust.

Using fake profiles, beautiful pictures and sob stories the conversations slowly turn to needing money for any number of reasons, all before you’ve ever even met in person.

While the script us usually the same, the technology is improving to where there might even be a phone call with a computer generated voice so as to disguise accents.

According to an FBI news release, “Most commonly, the perpetrators are men targeting women over 40 who are divorced, widowed, elderly, or disabled. The scam usually starts with an “innocent” contact online and builds from there. Romance scammers often use well-rehearsed scripts which have been previously used successfully."

The FBI has plenty of tips and helpful information on romance scams here.