LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Romance scams in 2021 victimized people in Nevada more than any state in the U.S. except North Dakota, according to data released by the FBI and the FTC.
Nationwide, the scams collected $547 million from Americans in 2021.
In Nevada, 352 victims reported losses of $15,095,654. That amounted to $486,233 for every 100,000 people in the state. Only North Dakota was higher, at $1,558,064 per 100,000 population.
The Top 5 states were rounded out by Alaska ($481,601), California ($465,191) and Colorado ($424,214).
Nationwide, the total stolen in 2021 was up nearly 80% from 2020, when $304 million was stolen.
Sgt. Beth Schmidt of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Financial Crimes Section said earlier this month that Metro sees examples of these romance scams all the time. She said it’s important to report them, and people shouldn’t be silent because they are embarrassed.
Socialcatfish.com listed five new romance scams that have been circulating in 2022
- Money Mules: More romance scam victims are being tricked into money laundering and facing prosecution. Never provide your bank account number or routing number to someone you meet online offering to send you money via wire transfers.
- CryptoRom: Cryptocurrency-related romance scams accounted for the largest losses in 2021 — $139 million — by convincing victims to invest in a bogus crypto app….
