BERLIN: It began with a simple “Hello” on the social media platform Threads.
The retiree, who lives near the south-western German city of Karlsruhe and asked not to be identified, was puzzled by the message from a stranger and innocently asked for more information.
“I like your photo,” the man wrote to her. His Instagram profile showed a friendly-looking man wearing a light-blue woollen hat.
For weeks, the two exchanged messages every day, sometimes several times a day, she says.
Then things began to feel strange.
She noticed that the writing style occasionally changed. Sometimes the man suddenly switched from addressing her informally to using more formal language.
She had never heard of romance scams – schemes in which fraudsters contact strangers online, build emotional relationships and eventually ask for money.
These days, romance scams are among the fastest-growing forms of online fraud.
A global trend
Consumer groups and law-enforcement agencies around the world regularly warn about online love scams.
In a major 2025 operation targeting romance fraud and sextortion, Interpol said 260 suspects were arrested across several African countries.
"Investigators identified 1,463 victims linked to the scams, estimating their losses at nearly US$2.8mil (RM11.3mil)," the agency reported.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has also repeatedly issued public warnings to raise awareness of such crimes.
In 2024, nearly 18,000 romance scam complaints were reported to the FBI's internet crime unit, with victims losing a combined US$672mil (RM2.72bil).
In Germany, police have recorded a steady rise in cases in recent years. A 2024 survey cited by payment company Visa found that three in five respondents were aware of romance scams, while one in seven said they had been targeted.
The scams are also widespread on dating platforms.
According to Professor Martin Steinebach of Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology, artificial intelligence (AI) is now making fraud significantly easier.
“The technology has become so sophisticated that many people can no longer reliably distinguish real content from fake,” he says.
A 72-year-old woman from Dresden recently lost €115,000 (US$133,131/RM539,446)) to a suspected romance scam after meeting a man on a dating site.
According to police, the man claimed to be living in China and repeatedly asked the woman for money, citing financial difficulties.
Over roughly six months, she transferred a total of €115,000 (RM540,304) before becoming suspicious and contacting authorities. The investigation is ongoing.
She is not alone. Similar cases have been reported globally – from Australia to the United Kingdom.
While middle-aged and older women have often been targeted, scammers increasingly cast a wider net. They may pose as romantic partners, friends or even surrogate family members to build trust before seeking financial assistance, the FBI says.
The pattern is always similar
Experts say the underlying method is largely consistent. Scammers create fake identities and present themselves as attractive, successful professionals with international lives.
“Romance scammers often construct elaborate life stories to appear both credible and appealing,” a German consumer protection agency warns.
When victims suggest meeting in person, the narrative typically shifts.
Suddenly, the scammer claims to be in crisis and asks for financial help.
The man who contacted the retiree via Threads said he was a civil engineer named Arthur, half German and half British, raising a 12-year-old daughter named Tracy alone.
He claimed to travel frequently for overseas construction work and said he was currently based in Istanbul, while his daughter attended boarding school in England.
A sophisticated global industry has emerged around romance fraud, with criminal networks operating in regions including South-East Asia and parts of West Africa, such as Nigeria and Ghana.
Authorities say romance scam cases have risen steadily for years, with annual losses running into the millions.
Why the scam works
One reason may be that AI has dramatically lowered the cost of deception, says Steinebach. AI allows scammers to create convincing fake identities in minutes.
“In the past, fraudsters had to spend hours collecting photos from social media profiles,” he says. “Today, they can generate realistic faces with AI and place them in virtually any setting,” he notes.
The same tools can produce persuasive messages, love letters and fluent translations in multiple languages.
But technology alone does not explain the phenomenon.
Romance scams also exploit a basic human need for connection. Many victims are looking for companionship, attention or someone to confide in. Over time, they build trust with a person who appears genuinely interested in their lives.
“Both male and female scammers are often able to make themselves indispensable in their victims’ daily lives,” police warn.
The retiree was fortunate in her misfortune. When the scammer sent her photos of his supposed daughter and images of himself at construction sites, she realised something did not add up: the pictures showed different people.
In one case, he had simply digitally inserted himself into an image.
She cut off contact immediately. "But the emotional pain remains," she says.
Since then, the scammer has set his Instagram profile to private and removed the image of him wearing a woollen hat.
A new profile picture has since appeared. The account name has also been changed multiple times since 2018.
The man behind “Arthur” is no longer linked to Istanbul, as he claimed. His last known digital trace points to Ghana. – dpa
