Romance Scams Part 2: U.S. victims lost more than $230 million online in 2016

[youtube_sc url=”https://youtu.be/BmIvqOYwGGU” title=”Special%20Agent%20Christine%20Beining%20describes%20romance%20scams”]Almost 15,000 complaints of romance scams or confidence fraud were reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2016. Victims of these crimes lost more than $230 million.

In Texas alone, victims lost more than $16 million in romance scams.

Who is running these scams? In many cases, says FBI Special Agent Christine Beining, the perpetrators are organized crime gangs. Why? It’s an easy and lucrative crime. Criminals can often remain anonymous and beyond the reach of authorities. That’s why it’s on the rise.

Romance Scams – Online impostors break hearts and bank accounts, on FBI.gov.