Predatory dating scammers may have cost the UK public more than £400m in financial loss across just five years, according to Action Fraud reports.
Data gathered by Action Fraud Claims Advice – not to be confused with the national reporting centre – indicates that nearly 40,000 crime reports were submitted between January 2020 and December 2024.
Wales featured prominently in the data, with close to 1,900 reports believed to have come from around the country.
Welsh victims reporting a dating scam every day
Overall, Action Fraud received 1,893 Welsh reports of dating scams across five years. 662 of them–over a third–came from South Wales.
The results were divided by location based on areas covered by police forces, meaning that ‘South Wales’ refers to the part of the country under South Wales Police’s remit.
2020 was South Wales’ quietest year for reports sent to Action Fraud, but even the 120 cases flagged were more than any other part of Wales saw in any year. Report numbers rose to 145 in 2021 and then, after two straight years of 124 scams being reported, 149 instances of romance fraud were brought to the authorities’ attention in 2024.
Dyfed-Powys was the source of 72 reports in 2020, a number which swiftly rose to 118 the year after. Incident figures have remained in the 90s since, with 98, 91 and 93 reports sent in the last three years respectively. It still means that a resident of the area was 29% more likely to report being victim to dating fraud in 2024 than they were in 2020. This was the greatest rise in cases, ahead of South Wales (24%).
The 472 reports from Dyfed-Powys were only marginally clear of North Wales’ 468. Unlike all other regions of Wales, those in the north found 2023 to be the worst year for romance fraud. After 81 cases shared with Action Fraud in 2020, followed by 99 and 85 in the next two years, North Walians reported being victim to dating scams 108 times in 2023. That number then dropped to 95 last year.
Reports from the region under Gwent Police’s watch fluctuated across the five years. Its 291 total reports were made up of 56 from 2020, then 68, 47, 65 and 55 in the years following. As a result, Gwent was one of just six regions where reports were less frequent in 2024 than they were in 2020.
Elsewhere in the UK
Top of the list is Greater London, with the area covered by Metropolitan Police reporting a whopping 5,168 scams in five years.
West Midlands (1,550), Sussex (1,451) and Thames Valley (1,401) were all significantly affected.
39 of 48 police forces saw the number of reports rise by at least 10% over the five-year period.
Reports in Northern Ireland and Scotland went up by a third between 2020 and 2024.
The average number of reports across five years was 813 per region, meaning all Welsh areas had a below-average number. However, if the outliers of London and cases with unknown origins (of which there were 4,117) are removed, the average is 651–11 fewer than South Wales’ 662.
Scam victims losing over £10,000 on average
Based on national reports, the financial damage caused by romance fraud is estimated to be a massive £409,749,344 – though the true cost could be much higher.
2021 was when report numbers were at their highest. There were 8,678 cases overall, with people reporting a loss of £87,694,153–that works out at £10,105 per person.
While the caseload has not returned to that peak, the 8,548 cases sent to Action Fraud in 2024 is an increase of 465 on the year before, and 708 on the 7,840 reports from 2022.
In total, victims of dating fraud are losing nearly 40% more money than they were five years ago. The estimated loss, which is based on self-reporting, was £66,339,032 in 2020, at an average of £9,884 per report.
Last year, the final figure was £92,215,871, or £10,788 per report.
While Valentine’s Day may appear an ideal time for a scammer to prey upon lovelorn members of the public, the data suggests that romance fraud is a year-round threat.
Reports between 14th February and 14th March only exceeded the monthly average once–that was in 2021, when complaints of crime came in at a rate of nearly 27 per day.
Shocking figures show dating scams spare nobody
What is most telling about the data is that no group can be considered safe from romance scams.
Where the victim’s gender was recorded, 17,956 (51%) identified themselves as female, and 17,032 (49%) identified as male.
While a victim was more likely to be middle-aged, with 50-59 year-olds scammed on 7,393 occasions (followed by 40-49 year-olds, who reported 6,445 crimes), every age group was represented in the figures.
This includes 73 victims aged between 90 and 99, and even one victim understood to be at least 100 years old.
Shockingly, 53 victims were aged up to nine years old, and a further 1,472 were under the age of 20.
It is another symptom of a growing epidemic of child exploitation online. The NSPCC reported in September that the need for counselling due to online grooming and ‘sextortion’ has grown significantly.
“Romance fraud is a devastating crime”
Victim Support is an independent charity that offers specialist help for victims of crime, including fraud. The charity told Action Fraud Claims Advice that the psychological effect of romance fraud should never be overlooked.
Lisa Mills, Senior Fraud Manager at Victim Support, said: “Romance fraud is a devastating crime. For victims, it isn’t just a question of losing large sums of money. The psychological and emotional impact of being deceived by someone you trusted deeply can knock your confidence and sense of self-worth enormously.
“Sadly, there is so much shame and stigma around romance fraud, with many victims too embarrassed to open up to their friends or family about what has happened, leaving them even more isolated.
If you have been a victim, you are not to blame – fraudsters are skilled manipulators who use social engineering to manipulate thousands of people every year. Get in touch with Victim Support for free, confidential support via our 24/7 Supportline [08 08 16 89 111] or live chat service.”
