Australia has the world's second highest number of romance scams

Do you know what to look for?

Do you know what to look for to avoid a romance scam? Image: Pexels

Have you ever been catfished? Turns out you're not alone. Research shows Australia has the second highest number of romance scams each year. 

When people are single and going on dates, what they want above almost anything else is for people to be who they say they are. 

Yes, people want to meet their one true love, to go on a perfect date, fall in love at first sight and talk all night long. But more often than not, that’s not how dates go. Instead, there are awkward pauses, late arrivals and conversation clashes that can feel so forced it takes the fun out of the ordeal entirely. 

But as bad as some dates can be, at least you know that person is showing their true colours – it’s better to know now rather than later, right? 

Like what you see? Sign up to our bodyandsoul.com.au newsletter for more stories like this.

Unfortunately, some people aren’t so lucky, and end up on dates with sophisticated grifters who use love and affection as a mode to steal money. 

While you hear about these true crime horror stories on podcasts and in docu-series, which makes them seem like a world away, romance scams like those in Who the Hell is Hamish or the Tinder Swindler are actually far more common than you may think – especially in Australia. 

According to new research by socialcatfish.com about the State of Romance Scams in Australia, Australia has the second-highest number of romance scams in the world. Citing last year’s report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), there are 14.7 romance scams per 100,000 residents, with Australia beaten only by the US in the rankings, with 21.2 victims per capita. 

The ACCC findings project Australians will lose $33.8 million this year as a result of love scammers, which is actually a sizable decrease from last year’s $40.6 million, but still a catastrophic amount of sunken cash. It’s also an outlier, as the rest of the world continues to experience growing numbers of 

According to the socialcatfish.com report, which analysed scam data from the last three years, the large numbers over the past few years can be credited to the Covid pandemic, where people turned to online dating more than ever before to try to find connections. 

But even back to the ‘real world’ so to speak, people are still falling victim – and it’s not necessarily the people you may expect. 

Social media is often the birthplace of romance scams. Image: Pexels

Older Australians are at risk

The age bracket most vulnerable to romance scams are older Australians, who have lost significantly more money than younger groups this year. 

“People aged 44 and below lost $6 million while those 45 and older lost $18.9 million” says the report. “This equates to financial losses that are 215 per cent higher.” 

People aged 55-64 lost the most money, losing $7 million; and those 65 and older came in second, losing $6 million. 

Men are more vulnerable than women 

Interestingly, men are also more vulnerable to romance scams than women – 57 per cent to 41 per cent respectively. In two per cent of cases the gender was not reported. 

Socialcatfish.com says the cause of these as “sextortion scams” where young men in particular are corralled into sending nudes to scammers, who then blackmail them for money.

Another popular form of romance scamming are investment scams, where people pretend to have feelings for someone and convince them to invest money in their "business". This is the modus operandi in most high-profile cases, which then make it into Netflix series. 

Australia has the second-highest number of romance scams in the world. Image: Getty

It’s not always dating apps 

Dating apps get a bad wrap for the birthplace of romance scams, but the stats show social media is usually where things go wrong. 

Social networking sites generated $11 million of lost money, mobile applications were number two, causing $6 million lost, and the very broad “Internet” was number three, clocking $2.7 million. 

How to avoid a romance scam

To avoid falling victim to a romance scam, Socialcatfish suggests following these guidelines, 

•       Do not send money to anyone online that you have not met.
•       Perform a reverse search to confirm their true identity.
•       Beware of poor grammar, serving in the military overseas, and refusing to video chat.
•       Never send explicit photos.

Originally published as Australia has the world's second highest number of romance scams