Romance Scam

A scammer builds a fake online relationship over weeks or months, then invents an emergency or investment opportunity that requires urgent money transfers.

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Source: GACS — Global Anti-Crime & Safety · Published by the GACS Research Team · Updated October 21, 2026

Cite this page: GACS (2026). Romance Scam — GACS Glossary. https://gacs.app/glossary/romance-scam · Record ID GACS-glossary-romance-scam

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Related GACS research

Authoritative sources

Independent primary sources used to check and corroborate the guidance on this page.

FBI — Romance Scams
Federal guidance on confidence and romance fraud patterns.
US Federal Trade Commission — Romance Scam Data
Consumer guidance plus published loss statistics.
UK Report Fraud
UK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
Canada's central repository for fraud reports and scam alerts.