Nigeria is second among the countries of the world notorious with romance scam, next to the Philippines and Canada third, according to a study conducted by a group, Techshielder.
But in the actual amount of money stolen, United Kingdom comes in first place, having stolen nearly £25,000,000 from 978 different dating scams. This amounts to an average loss per victim of £25,112.
Turkey follows the United Kingdom with a whopping £18,47,683 reported loss from victims, and then it’s Nigeria in third place (£12,101,313).
The group noted that a huge driving force for dating scams is the financial gains for the fraudsters whereby they build trust with the victims with the aim of getting them to send money under false pretences.
Techshielder, in its study titled ‘Catfish Analysis: The Countries with the Highest Rates,’ said that “it turns out that the Philippines is responsible for the highest number of dating scam cases.
“Over 1,300 romance fraud cases have been reported against the country, and they are responsible for a whopping £3.2 million in financial loss.
“Ranking in second place is Nigeria. With a population of 201 million, the West African country has accounted for 1,129 reports of scams. The total amount of money lost due to Nigerian dating scams is a staggering £12.1 million, this totals to an average loss per victim of £10,700.
“Rounding off the top three is Canada. The world’s second-largest country has taken £5.6 million out of love-seekers pockets and has broken 1054 hearts due to catfishing.
“Colombia finishes off the top 20. From the ruined cities to the picturesque beaches, Colombia is an adventurous dream, but it is also a place where you’re likely to fall victim to a romance scam. The South American country has been held responsible for 183 dating fraud scams and has swindled victims out of £748,505 in total.”
Techshielder noted that “catfishing scams, also known as dating scams or romance scams, have seen a huge increase over the course of the pandemic. As people try to find companionship during these difficult times, fraudsters have used this as a chance to not only leave people broken-hearted but also empty their pockets.”
Stating that this involves “creating a fake profile to attract someone online,” the group said that during the year 2020, dating scams cost the world a massive £157 million, which works out to be an average loss of £12,711 per victim.
Explaining the ‘catfishing’ phenomenon, the group noted: “It’s the 21st-century and the majority of the world goes online to date. It’s not unheard of to find love on a dating app, but sometimes the person on the other end of the profile may not be who they claim to be. With romance scams on a rise, we have analysed the data to find the countries in which you are most likely to be catfished.
“Playing on the emotional triggers of hopeful romantics with the aim of getting them to send money, gifts or personal details, scammers take advantage of people looking to find love online via dating apps, websites or even social media.
“The graphic below shows the countries that have been reported for catfishing scams the most, as well as the average amount of money victims have reported lost.
“The average amount of money reported lost by victims was calculated by dividing the overall money lost by the number of reports.”
The United Kingdom has scammed the most amount of money with romance scams
We evaluated the amount of money lost to find the countries stealing the biggest amount of money overall.
The United Kingdom comes in first place. The nation has nearly stolen a total of £25,000,000 from 978 different dating scams, this totals to an average loss per victim of £25,112.
Turkey follows the United Kingdom with a whopping £18,47,683 reported loss from victims, and then it’s Nigeria in third place (£12,101,313).
At the other end of the scale, we have the European country of Iceland. The nation has only accounted for a total of 1 case of dating scam and has stolen no money at all.
Londoners are most likely to be catfished in the UK
In the UK, 5,027 cases of dating scams were reported in the year 2020. Women were most likely to be a victim of dating scams as 57% of victims documented identified as female, 37% were male and the gender of the remaining 6% was undisclosed.
It’s easy to think that vulnerable or older people are the main targets of scammers, but children between the ages of 0 – 9 have also been victims of romance scams, they account for 0.22% of reports.
The study shows that victims aged 50 to 59 are most likely to fall prey to a catfish — they make up 22% of reports. This is followed by 40 – 49 (19%), 30 – 39 (17%) and then those aged 60 – 69 (14%).
But it’s those living in London that account for the highest number of reports and the biggest amount of money loss overall. 14% of the victims described were Londoners, and they have recorded a £7.2 million loss overall — that works out to be over £10,300 loss per victim.