How to detect and avoid online romance scams on social media.

Recently, online romance scams have become increasingly complex, employing sophisticated tactics and causing serious emotional and financial consequences for victims.

Understanding this issue, Meta – the company that owns and operates major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger – has issued warnings to help users be more vigilant and protect themselves from the risk of romance scams on their apps, as well as on other online platforms.

1. Be careful about unwanted messages and consider limiting who can contact you.

Be wary of strange messages from people you don't know, especially those that are unusual, overly familiar, or urgent from the very first contact.

If someone suddenly expresses intense affection, offers financial help, or asks for personal information without a clear reason, it could be a sign of a scam.

To protect yourself, you should consider setting privacy settings on social media platforms, limiting who can send you messages, or only allowing people on your friend list to contact you directly. This helps reduce the risk of being contacted by scammers and protects your personal information.

2. Carefully check unfamiliar accounts when they unexpectedly contact you.

Always remain cautious but polite when receiving messages from strangers, especially from accounts you've never interacted with before.

Before replying, carefully check their profile, including their profile picture, number of friends, posts, and activity history. If the account has too little information, was recently created, or shows suspicious signs such as only posting generic, vague content, you should be cautious.

Additionally, search for their name or image on the internet to verify if it's a fake account.

3. Be wary of requests for personal information or money transfers, and consult with others before making any decisions.

Always be cautious when someone asks you for personal information, such as your phone number, address, bank account details, or OTP code.

Scammers often employ sophisticated tactics to gain trust, such as pretending to be close friends, fabricating difficult circumstances, or making enticing promises to persuade you to share sensitive information.

In particular, if someone asks you to transfer money, for any reason whatsoever, from financial assistance to profitable investment, stop and think carefully. Ideally, you should consult with family and friends or seek information from reputable sources to verify its authenticity before making any decision.

In addition, Meta also points out the three most common types of romance scams that users need to be especially wary of.

The first,Scammers posing as military personnel often claim they are on duty overseas and seeking a serious relationship. They may tell touching stories of hardship or loneliness to gain trust, then use the excuse of needing financial support, such as to return home or deal with an emergency.

Monday,These imposters, posing as celebrities, singers, actors, or successful businesspeople, are looking for love. They might approach you via private messages, expressing special interest and making great promises. However, this is often a trap to scam you out of money or personal information.

Tuesday,Fake dating agencies advertise themselves as being able to help you find your "perfect match." These scammers may ask you for high membership fees or personal information, but in reality, they only aim to trick you out of money without providing any real value.

Meta revealed that in just the first few months of 2025, they removed over 116,000 accounts and pages on Facebook and Instagram linked to romance scams. While this number is significant, it pales in comparison to 2024, when Meta aggressively removed over 408,000 fraudulent accounts.

This shows that romance scams are not decreasing but continue to run rampant, making it necessary for users to be more vigilant than ever.

Meta has been taking strong measures to combat these sophisticated scams. Last year, the company announced it would redeploy facial recognition technology to fight celebrity impersonation, one of the most common forms of fraud.

At the same time, Meta also collaborates with various other organizations to dismantle organized fraud groups operating on their platform.

However, this battle is not easy. David Agranovich, Director of Threat Prevention at Meta, warns that "fraudsters are constantly changing tactics," always finding new ways to bypass security measures.

Researchers warn that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is making it easier than ever for scammers to create convincing fake identities.

Rachel Tobac, CEO of the US-based cybersecurity company SocialProof Security, said: "In just the last three to four months, a number of new tools have emerged that are completely free, accessible, and incredibly simple to use. These tools allow attackers to change their faces in real time during video calls, making it much harder to detect impersonation."

Furthermore, Rachel emphasized that malicious actors can use deepfake computer programs to construct a complete virtual identity.

They can make phone calls using artificial voices, mimic facial expressions, and even run entire scams without direct human involvement.

This makes scams increasingly sophisticated and harder to identify, putting users at risk of being tricked without their knowledge.