How to detect and avoid romance scams on social media
Social networks have become an indispensable part of modern life, a place to connect people, share information and experiences. However, besides the great benefits, social networks also have many potential risks, especially emotional fraud.
Recently, love scams on social networks have become increasingly complicated with many sophisticated tricks, causing serious consequences both mentally and financially for the victims.
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Understanding this problem, Meta - the company that owns and operates major social networking 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 fraud on their applications, as well as on other online platforms.
1. Be careful of 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 intimate, or urgent in nature from the first contact.
If someone suddenly expresses strong feelings, offers financial help, or asks for personal information for no apparent reason, it could be a sign of a scam.
To protect yourself, consider setting your privacy settings on social media platforms, limiting who can send you messages, or allowing only people on your friends list to contact you directly. This reduces your risk of being contacted by scammers and protects your personal information.
2. Check strange accounts carefully when they contact you unexpectedly
Always be cautious but polite when receiving messages from strangers, especially from accounts you have never interacted with before.
Before you reply, check their profile, including their profile picture, number of friends, posts, and how long they’ve been active. If the account has very little information, was created recently, or looks suspicious, like it only posts vague, generic content, you should be cautious.
Also, search for their name or picture on the internet to verify if it is a fake account or not.
3. Be wary of requests for personal information or money transfers and consult others before making a decision.
Always be cautious when someone asks you to provide personal information, such as phone number, address, bank account or OTP code.
Scammers often use sophisticated tactics to gain your trust, such as pretending to be friendly, fabricating difficult situations, or making enticing promises to convince you to share important information.
In particular, if someone asks you to transfer money, for any reason, from financial help to profitable investment, stop and think carefully. It is best to consult relatives, friends or search for information on reputable sources to verify the authenticity before making any decision.
In addition, Meta also points out the 3 most common forms of emotional fraud that users need to be especially wary of.
The first,Fraudsters pose as military personnel, often claiming to be on duty overseas and looking for a serious relationship. They may tell emotional stories of hardship or loneliness to gain trust, then claim to need financial assistance, such as to return home or deal with an emergency.
Monday,Celebrity impersonators, who pose as successful singers, actors, or business people looking for love. They may approach you via private messages, expressing special interest and promising great things. However, this is often a trap to scam you out of money or personal information.
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Tuesday,Fake dating agencies that advertise themselves as being able to help you find your “perfect match.” These may ask you to pay high membership fees or provide personal information, but in reality, they are just out to scam you out of money without providing any real value.
Meta revealed that in the first few months of 2025 alone, it had taken down more than 116,000 accounts and pages on Facebook and Instagram that were linked to romance scams. While this number is huge, it pales in comparison to 2024, when Meta took down more than 408,000 scam accounts.
This shows that romance scams have not decreased but continue to rage, making users need to be more vigilant than ever.
Meta has been taking aggressive steps to combat these sophisticated scams. Last year, the company announced it would re-deploy facial recognition technology to combat celebrity impersonation, one of the most common forms of fraud.
At the same time, Meta also cooperates with many other organizations to dismantle organized fraud groups operating on their platform.
However, this fight is not easy, David Agranovich, director of threat prevention at Meta, warns that "fraudsters are constantly changing their tactics", always finding new ways to bypass protections.
Researchers warn that the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is making it easier than ever for scammers to create convincing fake identities.
“In just the last three to four months, there have been a number of new tools that are completely free, accessible, and incredibly simple to use that allow attackers to change their faces in real time during video calls, making it harder to detect spoofing,” said Rachel Tobac, CEO of US-based cybersecurity firm SocialProof Security.
Not stopping there, Rachel also emphasized that bad guys can use fake computer programs (deepfake) to build a complete virtual identity.
They can make phone calls with artificial voices, simulate facial expressions, and even run entire scams without any direct human involvement.
This makes scams more sophisticated and harder to detect, putting users at risk of being lured without even knowing it.