Ahead of Valentine's Day, Meta issued a warning about rising romance scams on its platforms, revealing that scammers create fake identities to exploit users. In 2021 alone, victims lost over half a billion dollars to such schemes. By 2025, Meta has already removed over 116,000 scam-related accounts, continuing its efforts to combat these deceptive practices, which often originate in West Africa. These scams typically involve impersonating military personnel or celebrities and requesting financial assistance through gift cards or cryptocurrencies. As technology evolves, scammers utilize AI to enhance their deception, making the situation increasingly complex for users.
According to Meta, scammers often impersonate military personnel or celebrities, looking for love, and eventually ask victims for payments in the form of gift cards or crypto.
Meta has removed over 116,000 accounts linked to romance scams in 2025, following the removal of 408,000 such accounts in 2024.
As scammers evolve, AI tools have made it easier for them to forge convincing identities, highlighting the evolving landscape of online scams.
David Agranovich of Meta emphasized that "scammers evolve consistently," indicating the ongoing challenge in combating such deceptive practices.
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