Romance Scams and Travellers: Warning Signs and Reporting

What is a romance scam, and how does travel come into it?

A romance scam is a fake relationship built online, usually through a dating app, social media or messaging, to win your trust and then your money. Travel features often: scammers claim to be overseas to explain why they cannot meet, and official advice for Thailand, the UAE, Malta and Ghana warns about romance or friendship scams.

Australia’s Scamwatch describes scammers who create fake profiles on social media, dating and gaming apps, message constantly to make you feel special, then raise an urgent problem that needs your money or steer you into a fake investment. It notes that there always seems to be a reason they cannot meet in person or video chat, often because they say they are overseas or somewhere remote. The US Federal Trade Commission lists cover stories such as working on an oil rig, serving in the military or working for an international organisation.

Official travel advice flags the same problem in specific countries. Smartraveller says online relationship and friendship scams are common in Thailand and lists romance and online dating among common scams in the UAE. The FCDO’s Malta and Ghana pages warn about romance and friendship scams, and the Malta page tells travellers to be cautious about requests for money or a face-to-face meeting from someone met online.

Anyone can be targeted, at any age. These scams are run by organised, practised criminals, and being deceived says nothing about your judgement; the UK’s National Crime Agency makes the same point to sextortion victims, covered below.

What stories do romance scammers use to ask for money?

Expect an emergency once trust is built: a flight home or visa fee for someone stranded abroad, a medical bill, a gift held by customs until you pay a fee, or an investment that cannot fail, usually in cryptocurrency. Whatever the story, a money request from someone you have never met in person is the warning sign.

The FTC says scammers ask for money for medical bills, travel costs to visit you, visa fees or fees to get them out of trouble, and push payment by wire transfer, gift cards, money transfer apps or cryptocurrency, methods that make it hard to get your money back. Its bottom line is never to send money or gifts to someone you have not met in person.

The customs story targets the person at home. The Philippine Bureau of Customs warned in July 2026, as reported by The Philippine Star on 19 July 2026, that scammers claim to have sent a valuable gift from abroad, then someone posing as customs staff demands fees, sometimes repeatedly, to release it, backed by fake invoices and tracking websites. The bureau said its staff are not authorised to demand or accept payments into personal bank accounts.

A related trick uses your own trip. Smartraveller’s scams guide warns that scammers may contact your family while you are away with a believable story that you have been kidnapped, injured or arrested, sometimes using AI-altered photos, video or audio, or hack your accounts and ask friends for money to get home. It suggests agreeing a security question with family before you go.

How do crypto investment romance scams, or “pig butchering”, work?

The scammer builds a friendship or romance, then introduces an investment platform or app that shows rising profits. When you try to withdraw, you are told to pay taxes or fees first, and the money never comes back. US authorities call this “pig butchering”, and the FBI says an investment pitch from someone met online is likely fraud.

The FBI’s IC3 investment fraud page describes scammers who reach victims through social media, texts supposedly sent to the wrong number and thousands of fake dating profiles. Once trust exists, victims are told to open a cryptocurrency exchange account and send coins to the scammer’s “investment platform”, which shows fake gains, then asked for taxes or fees before they can withdraw. Red flags include requests to move the chat to another platform, returns that are clearly too good to be true and repeatedly cancelled meetings.

FinCEN, the US Treasury’s financial crimes bureau, described the scheme as “pig butchering” in September 2023, after the practice of fattening a hog before slaughter, and said it is largely run by criminal enterprises in Southeast Asia using victims of labour trafficking. The FCDO’s Thailand advice separately warns that people lured by too-good-to-be-true job offers have been taken to neighbouring countries and coerced into online scamming. An IC3 alert of 15 June 2026 adds that some scammers now send couriers to collect cash in person.

IC3 says cryptocurrency transactions cannot be reversed and warns people to be wary of recovery services, especially those charging an upfront fee (IC3 cryptocurrency page). If you have already sent money, stop, report it and do not pay anyone promising to get it back.

What are the warning signs of a romance scam?

Watch for intense attention early on, pressure to move from the dating app to WhatsApp or another private app, endless reasons not to meet or video call, requests to keep the relationship secret, requests for intimate images, and any talk of money, gift cards, crypto or moving funds for them. One sign is reason to slow down.

Scamwatch sets out the pattern: the relationship moves fast, with frequent messages and calls sometimes called love bombing; the chat moves quickly to apps such as WhatsApp, LINE or WeChat; an emergency or an investment follows; they want the relationship kept secret; and their profile does not match what they tell you. It also flags anger or threats when you ask questions or do not do what they ask.

Scamwatch says a fake profile may have photos that look too professional or are blurry, an account that has not been active long, little personal information and few connections or interactions. IC3 adds excessive flattery, strong romantic interest and repeatedly cancelled in-person meetings to the list.

• They declare strong feelings within days and message constantly.
• They want to leave the dating app for a private messaging app early on.
• Their camera never works, or plans to meet keep falling through.
• They ask you to keep the relationship secret from friends and family.
• They ask for money, gift cards, crypto, bank details or ID documents, or ask you to move money for them.

How can you check whether an online match is genuine?

Take it slowly and test the story. Run a reverse image search on their photos, search their name and details with the word “scam”, ask questions and watch for answers that do not add up, keep chatting inside the dating app, and tell a friend. Never send money, ID documents or bank details to someone you know only online.

The FTC and Scamwatch both recommend a reverse image search, which shows whether the same photos appear online under other names or details, and searching the person’s name or job with the word “scam”. The FTC also suggests talking to someone you trust, because friends often notice what you miss. Scamwatch adds that you should never send money, card or bank details, personal information or identity documents to someone you only know online, however long you have been messaging, and never agree to transfer money for someone else.

Video helps but is not conclusive. Smartraveller warns that scammers can use AI to create altered photos, videos or audio, known as deepfakes, so a call does not replace the other checks. If you plan to meet, Smartraveller advises confirming the person’s identity before travelling overseas to see them.

What is sextortion, and what should you do if it happens?

Sextortion is blackmail: someone obtains intimate images, often after a fast-moving chat moved to a private app, then threatens to share them unless you pay. The UK’s National Crime Agency says stop contact, block them, do not pay, keep the evidence and report it. It also says clearly that it is not your fault.

The National Crime Agency describes contact from an unfamiliar or hacked account, a conversation that turns sexual quickly, sometimes with the offender sharing an image first, and a move to an end-to-end encrypted messaging app. Anyone can be targeted; the NCA says teenage boys and men aged 18 to 30 are particularly at risk. Scamwatch advises never sending intimate photos or videos to people you do not know.

If it happens, the NCA says paying does not guarantee the threats will stop and may lead to more demands; if you have already paid, do not pay again. Keep messages, images and bank details, and deactivate social media accounts rather than deleting them so that evidence can be recovered. In the UK, call the police on 101, or 999 if you are at immediate risk, report the account to the platform, and consider StopNCII, which the NCA describes as a free tool to help detect and remove images shared online.

Outside the UK, report to local police and the platform. In the US, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center is the central hub for reporting cyber-enabled crime; IC3 says crimes against children should be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Is it safe to travel abroad to meet someone you met online?

Only once you have confirmed who they are, and never to recover money you have already sent. Smartraveller warns that scam victims who travelled to the country where the scam began have had their lives threatened, and some have been killed. Meet in public, arrange your own transport and accommodation, and tell someone your plans.

Smartraveller’s scams guide advises being careful of anyone you meet online from overseas, never sending money, confirming their identity before going overseas to meet them, and not travelling to try to get money back. It notes that consular staff cannot investigate a scam or report the crime for you.

Dates arranged on local apps while you travel carry their own risks. The FCDO says tourists in Indonesia have been assaulted or robbed after taking visitors to their hotel rooms, sometimes after their drinks were spiked, and Smartraveller warns that some tourists there have had drugs planted on them. A first date at a venue the other person chooses can also be the start of a bar-bill scam; see our bar and restaurant scams guide.

Keep control of the basics: meet in a busy place you picked, arrange your own way there and back, and share your location with a friend. Our LGBTQ+ travel safety guide covers dating-app risks in places where they are higher, and our solo female travel safety guide covers night-time transport.

How do you report a romance scam in the UK, US or elsewhere?

Call your bank first to stop further payments. Then report it: in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud in December 2025; in Scotland to Police Scotland on 101; in the US to the FBI’s IC3 and the FTC; and in every case to the app or platform.

The UK government announced on 4 December 2025 that Report Fraud, run by the City of London Police, replaces Action Fraud as the national service for reporting fraud and cyber crime, and that the phone number, 0300 123 2040, is unchanged. The National Cyber Security Centre directs people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to Report Fraud and those in Scotland to Police Scotland on 101, and says suspicious texts can be forwarded free to 7726.

In the US, report to IC3 and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and tell the app or social network where you met. IC3 asks for details such as wallet addresses, amounts and types of cryptocurrency, transaction hashes, dates, how you met and the platforms and phone numbers used. In Australia, Scamwatch, run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, takes reports.

If you are abroad, report to local police and ask for a written report, then contact your embassy. Be wary of anyone who contacts you afterwards offering to recover your money: IC3 warns about recovery services, especially those charging an upfront fee.