Key Takeaways
- In 2025, Americans filed 70,588 romance scam reports. Around 43,800 of those reports – 62% – involved a financial loss.
- The other 38% – about 26,800 reports – involved no financial loss at all.
- Nearly 60% of those who lost money say the scam started on social media, not a dating app. Facebook accounted for more reported scam losses than any other platform.
No agency counts catfishing directly. The closest official measure comes from the FTC’s romance scam data. In 2025, people in the US filed 70,588 romance scam reports. Roughly 43,800 of those reports – 62% – involved a financial loss. Total reported losses reached $1.492 billion. Because these figures only capture people who came forward, the real number is higher.
The Story Behind the Numbers
The 70,588 figure is the headline, but it hides two very different experiences.
About 62% of people who filed a report also lost money – around 43,800 victims. The other 38%, roughly 26,800 people, reported the scam without losing a cent. They were still deceived by a fake identity. They just got out before paying.
The money is split unevenly. The median loss was $2,050, meaning half of victims lost less than that. But spread $1.492 billion across roughly 43,800 victims and the average comes out near $34,000 – more than sixteen times the median.
That gap matters. It means a small group of people lost enormous sums, six and seven figures in some cases. Most victims lose a few thousand dollars. A few lose everything.
Why This Data Is Important
These numbers measure reports, not reality. Romance fraud is one of the most underreported crime categories, because shame and denial keep most victims quiet. And catfishing that never involves money – a fake identity used to manipulate, embarrass, or simply lie – never enters the data at all.
The starting point is the detail most people get wrong. Nearly 60% of those who lost money to a romance scam in 2025 said it started on social media, not a dating app. Facebook accounted for more reported scam losses than any other platform.
That changes what protection actually looks like. Scammers build their approach from what is publicly visible – your job, your relationship status, your photos, your location. Tightening privacy settings and using a separate, anonymous email address for new contacts removes the raw material they work from. If you post while traveling, choosing to hide your IP address keeps your location out of the picture too. If none of this is familiar, our beginner’s guide to VPNs covers the basics.
Looking Ahead: Future Outlook
The 60% figure is the one to watch. As long as most romance scams begin on social media rather than dating apps, reported totals will stay incomplete – dating platforms have fraud reporting built into the product, while social feeds largely do not. If that share holds or grows, expect reported numbers to rise partly because reporting is catching up, not only because catfishing is spreading.
Source & Methodology
Figures are from the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network, full-year 2025, Romance Scams subcategory. Sentinel data is based on unverified consumer reports, not a survey – it reflects what people chose to report, not total incidence.