Looking for love this Valentine’s Day? US romance scam hotspots revealed

Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to think about romance again – and cybercriminals are all here for it. Romance scams and fake lovers cost Americans an estimated $697.3 million last year, and some states are far more susceptible to love scams than others.

Brokerage and forex experts at BrokerChooser analyzed official fraud reports to see which states and age groups are most likely to fall victim to romance scams.

First things first: love can be a real expense for romantics in Arizona, Alaska, and Wyoming, which topped the list of catfishing hotspots in the US, with 159, 121, and 100 reports per million people, respectively.

Arizona remains the most vulnerable state to romance scams for the second year in a row, with losses skyrocketing to $33.5 million in the first half of 2025, up around 15% from $29 million in the same period last year. Residents are also searching for catfishing-related terms more than 1,100 times per 100K annually. The researchers crowned Arizona the catfishing capital of the US.

Alaska is a close second, with average losses estimated at around $17,334 and total losses hitting $1.5 million in the first half of this year, up 9.3% year-on-year. Residents type in catfishing-related terms around 914 times per 100K people.

Wyoming moved up two places to third place this year, although total losses tumbled from $1.37 million last year to $746,000 in the first half of 2025. The state also had the lowest average losses out of all examined states, at $12,863.

The researchers further reveal that when it comes to age groups, older people are generally more likely to fall victim to romance scams and lose the most money to them. As such, 70- to 79-year-olds are the most vulnerable group, with 68 romance scam reports per million people and 68% of the victims losing money, with total losses estimated at a shocking $84.4 million and average losses of $10,000.

The 60- to 69-year-olds follow right behind with 66 logged cases and higher total losses of a staggering $90 million in just six months, which is more than triple the amount lost by 30- to 39-year-olds ($28 million).

People aged 60 to 79 accounted for 53% of all romance scam losses across age groups, which makes them the most vulnerable group.

Young adults aged 20 to 29 are in the third highest-risk position, with 60 reports, but much more modest total losses of $9.6 million, with a median loss of $500. Millennials (30-39) follow closely with 59 reports and median losses of $1,299.

Experts from BrokerChooser shared four tips on spotting romance scams, including staying wary of:

• unsolicited offers of financial coaching and screenshots of supposed profits presented without you asking
• attempts to steer you toward a specific investment platform while trying to persuade you not to research it
• manufactured urgency like: “There’s a 24-hour arbitrage opportunity, and I want us to grow together”
• small scripted profits aimed at encouraging larger transfers and hooking victims