Romance frauds cause some of the highest financial losses of all fraud types, as well as deep emotional harm that can have lasting impacts. In 2024, fraudwatch received reports showing Australians lost AUD23.6 million to romance frauds, with an average individual loss of AUD24,216.

These frauds disproportionately affect people aged 35 and over, those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Australians living with a disability, Indigenous communities, and others who are widowed, divorced or actively seeking relationships.

Between January 2024 and May 2025, men were more likely to report romance frauds; however, women reported higher financial losses – AUD20.1 million compared to AUD13.3 million for men. On average, women lost more per fraud – AUD36,091 compared to AUD17,089 for men. People aged 65 and over had the highest total losses at AUD11.7 million.

“There is an element of betrayal in romance frauds that is incredibly cruel and can leave people facing both financial and devastating personal impacts,” ACCC Deputy Chairman Catriona Lowe said.

“Our job is to better understand how these frauds work and break that cycle before more harm is done. The fusion cell allows us to act quickly and collaboratively across industries to disrupt these callous and calculated frauds.”

The Romance Scam Fusion Cell will focus on criminals targeting people using dating platforms, social media and encrypted messaging apps. fraudsters often invest weeks or months gaining a person’s trust, creating a strong emotional connection before making requests for money or other forms of assistance. They may engage in video or phone calls and make false promises to meet in person. Fraudsters often threaten to expose private information if their demands are not met. These manipulation tactics are designed to maintain control and exploit trust.

Two common fraud methods have been identified. The first, known as romance baiting, typically involves grooming a romantic interest to take up fake investment opportunities, often involving cryptocurrency. The second, the ‘long-term romance fraud’, sees the fraudster cultivate an emotional connection over an extended period of time, even months or years. These criminals construct elaborate stories to extract money or to coerce people into unknowingly becoming involved in collect and remit money laundering schemes.

“There may not always be clear warning signs of romance frauds; however, the relationship will generally involve excessive messaging or ‘love bombing’, efforts to move the conversation off dating and social media platforms onto encrypted apps, requests for money, or investment advice,” Miss Lowe said.

“Fraudsters may even pretend to be public figures or claim they are in remote locations to create excuses for not meeting in person or through video chat. Patterns we see with romance frauds are secrecy, constant excuses, or sudden money requests, so any of these signs in an online romance should put people on alert.”

“Fraudsters thrive in silence, so let your report be the noise that helps stop them. By reporting a fraud to us, you help us build our intelligence, and it could be vital information for us in aiding law enforcement to uncover a fraud network,” Miss Lowe said.

The Romance Scam Fusion Cell will focus on two major workstreams; firstly, to develop disruption methods and processes for victim identification and secondly, to design and test a contact model for romance fraud victims to help disengage victims from the fraud.

Source (edited) Australian Consumer and Competition Commission