Americans Lost $143 Million In Online Relationship Scams Last Year

The FTC is warning Americans not to fall for online relationship scams.

Malin Rosenqvist / Getty Images/Ikon Images

The Federal Trade Commission is celebrating Valentine’s Day by reminding people to not get scammed when looking for love.

The agency received more than 21,000 reports about romance scams in 2018, with total reported losses of $143 million.

Of those who said they lost money in a romance scam, the median amount lost was $2,600 — seven times more than the median loss for other types of frauds tracked by the FTC.