Multiple Faces Detected
January 21st, 2026
For decades, many people have fallen for romance scams all across the world. They use social media platforms, dating apps, and emails to get their hands on your hard-earned money so that they can live the lifestyle of their dreams. Romance scammers will go to the lengths of pretending to fall in love with you in order to drain your bank account. In 2020, around $304,000,000 was lost in the United States due to romance scams. It has risen up to 50% since 2019, and with the coronavirus pandemic, the rate of romance scams is only expected to increase. At Social Catfish, we have covered the top romance scams to make our audience more aware of the dangers that take place online. Here are our top 5 romance scams that we have covered so far.
The Top 5 Romance Scams of 2021
Jodi from Missouri
Jodi from Missouri has had experiences talking to three different romance scammers online. She formed romantic relationships with each one. She met Harrison in June, who wanted to form an investment plan with her. In order to make this investment plan work, she supposedly needed her ID, passport, and to borrow $135,000. She said no and moved onto the next one. Then she started talking to Calvin who was constantly asking for $1,900 to purchase tools and to help his coworkers. She ended up sending the money, thinking it wasn’t that much. Finally, she met Edward who asked for $30,000 to fund his power drill. Does she give him the money? Find out by watching and reading her story.
Crystal from South Carolina
Crystal is a woman from Columbia, South Carolina who was talking to a man named Derrick Phan living in Hong Kong. They met on PlentyOfFish and planned on getting married. However, there was one thing that was holding them back from these future plans. Crystal had never met Derrick in person. He claimed he got in an accident which prevented him from visiting her. However, she purchased a plane ticket to see him that she couldn’t get a refund on. She also paid $40,000 for his hospital bills, just to find out that he was a romance scammer. Watch the above video and click here to read more about her story.Â
Merci from India
Merci from India was chatting with a man named Ivan Michael who claimed he was in the military stationed in Afghanistan. He first messaged her on Instagram and sparked many conversations with her. Their relationship was going well for a few months and everything seemed to be fine until he started asking her for money. She sent him $3,000 United States dollars, which is equivalent to a year’s worth of salary in the Philippines. She is still working to earn her money back to this day. Watch the above video and click here to read more about her story.Â
Church from The Philippines
Church is from the Philippines and met a guy named Gerald Chang through her direct messages on Instagram. She had just gotten out of a bad relationship with her ex-boyfriend and was looking to move on from him. She was in a romantic relationship with Gerald for 6 months before she suspected that something was going on. He kept claiming he would send something but kept asking her for money in order to retrieve her package. She ended up sending around $15,000 to her romance scammer before she realized it was all a scam. Watch the above video and click here to read more about her story.Â
Katy Qi from Illinois
This is one of the worst romance scam stories we have ever covered, which makes it number one on our list. Katy Qi from Chicago, IL started dating online on a site called OurTime. She met a man named John Bao Duong online after only a few months of online dating and started connecting with him instantly. However, something didn’t seem right once John started asking for money non-stop, causing Katy to drain her life savings. She was basically funding a whole company’s salary, even though it didn’t exist. He ended up being a romance scammer that duped her out of $370k. Watch the above video and click here to learn more about her story.Â
Social Catfish is Here to Help You With These Top Romance Scams!
If you think you’re dealing with a scammer or have had your pictures stolen, Social Catfish is here to help you!
If you want to be a part of our next YouTube video or blog post and share your story, now is your chance. You can educate our audience about what you have gone through and make sure no one else goes through the same thing. All you need to do is email [email protected], and we will get back to you with more details.
You can also reverse search any information you have on the Nigerian romance scammer to see who it is you’ve really been talking to. If you have their name, email address, phone number, social media username, or image you can search it up in our search bar to see if there is more information on the suspected scammer you are talking to.
