February is an expensive time of year to be falling in love, with Valentine’s Day and all.
That goes double for someone who finds themselves caught in a catfishing scam, whether it’s through dating apps or some other form of conversation that doesn’t happen face to face.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, more than 64,000 people reported “romance scams” in 2024, with losses totaling $1.14 billion.
In addition, the median loss on a romance scam is about $2,000 per person. That’s the largest loss among imposter scams reported to the FTC, which also include business and government imposters.
FTC officials say that figure suggests that when a romance scammer has their hooks in someone, the financial consequences can be particularly serious.
Typically one of the first steps in crafting a romance scam is adopting a fake identity.
“Romance scammers are working to be your ‘perfect match’; what might begin as a seemingly innocent connection can quickly turn sinister as criminals cash in on those looking for companionship,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia branch. “As always, we encourage the public to be mindful when forging a relationship online, exercise caution navigating the cyber landscape, and report suspected scams to the FBI.”
Social Catfish is a website that offers “reverse-lookup” services, allowing users to search for other uses of the profile photo they see on a dating app or social media. The company compiled the top 100 photos used in romance scams from more than 1.5 million reverse-image searches conducted to verify online identities in 2024.
Some of the results, shown below in the order they are ranked on the list, were a little surprising.
#1
According to Social Catfish, this is the most popular photo used in the romance scams they researched, and this is a good example of how innocuous these can be. There’s nothing outwardly misleading about this photo. I mean, that seems like a pretty hardcore apron that you probably use for leather tanning rather than flower arranging, but then again, I’m not a florist.
#2
This is immediately suspicious. Look at every photo you have of your significant other — are they posing like this? Of course they’re not. This is a television-drama-“come-here-big-boy” pose.
#3
Fair play, scammers. Fair play. The angle suggests a real person using their phone to take this photo. I know men who could get catfished by this photo.
#4
Listen, as a man who occasionally has to, well, trim his shoulders, it’s very flattering that this is in the top five catfishing photos. This provides hope for hirsute men everywhere. I don’t have anything negative to say about it, other than it’s apparently being used a lot in romance scams.
#5
This guy is at a massively popular tourist destination but can’t get another tourist to snap this photo? Even if he’s a real person, I’m immediately suspicious.
#10
I’ve seen a mugshot. You’ve seen a mugshot. This is a mugshot. What in the world is someone doing getting scammed by this? Even if this were the actual woman in the photo — no, strike that, ESPECIALLY if this was the actual woman in the photo — she would NOT be using her MUGSHOT to get a date.
#20
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If you don’t recognize this pose, lighting and side shadow from every stock photo of all time. … Look, I’m not going to say anyone deserves to get scammed. I’m trying very hard not to say that.
#30
This is adult film star Mia Malkova. She’s not DM-ing you on Tinder. Trust me. If you don’t, look up a few more photos of her. Don’t do it at work if you value your job.
#40
THIS IS JUST A YOUNG TUPAC SHAKUR HOLY SMOKES PEOPLE HAVE THE ENTIRE WORLD AT THEIR FINGERTIPS WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND 17-YEAR-OLD TUPAC IS OUT HERE CATFISHING PEOPLE?!??
#45
Frequently, to ensure a person is who they say they are, they’ll be asked to take a photo holding up a sheet of paper with the current date and time written on it. My 12-year-old could Photoshop that writing better than this.
#58
…this is just Mia Malkova again. Get your life together.
#73
You gotta be a real big Detroit Red Wings fan to get catfished by this photo.
All of that doesn’t even include the new wave of catfishing photos created using artificial intelligence. These are getting better by the day, but anything more than a cursory glance will often reveal disturbing signs of laziness on the creator’s part, like a missing finger or leg — or too many fingers and legs! There’s a brave new world of mild body horror out there just waiting for you.
The Federal Trade Commission advises the following ways to avoid a romance scam, during Valentine’s Day or any other time:
• Never send money, cryptocurrency, gift cards, bank or wire transfers to anyone you’ve never met in person.
• Don’t believe promises that an online friend wants to show you how to make money through investing in things like cryptocurrency.
• Be suspicious of excuses for why an in-person meeting isn’t possible.
• Perform a reverse-image search using Google Images or a specialized service such as Social Catfish.
• Tell a trusted friend that you’re talking to someone online. People with honest intentions have no problem with someone telling a close friend about their relationship. By contrast, romance scammers often try to isolate people and not want others to know about them, commission officials said.
Suspicions of a romance scam can be reported at ReportFraud.FTC.gov, and FTC officials advise notifying the social media site or app where you met the suspicious person.
Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day.