Core Insights - Romance scams are a year-round threat, with reports increasing around Valentine's Day, leading to significant financial and emotional damage for victims [1][2] - The UK has seen a rise in romance fraud, with estimated losses of £106 million in the 2024-2025 financial year, affecting tens of thousands of individuals [3] - Globally, romance scams and other confidence schemes accounted for $3.8 billion in losses, indicating a widespread issue [3] Industry Trends - Evolving criminal tactics, including the use of GenAI tools for creating deepfake personas and hyper-personalized outreach, have contributed to the surge in romance fraud [4] - The rise of "romance baiting" scams, which combine emotional manipulation with investment deception, has made detection more challenging [6] - Fraudsters encourage victims to invest in cryptocurrency by posing as successful investors, leading to significant financial losses as victims are manipulated into increasing their investments [7][8]

Huge sting operation across Africa sees 260 arrested for sextortion and romance scams https://t.co/GmCXEO6WE8 ...