Hundreds of people falling victim to romance scams, the Financial Ombudsman Service warns

We have received over 500 complaints between January 2025 and March 2026 from people who were victims of romance scams. Romance scams are where fraudsters convince often vulnerable people to send money to them, by gaining their trust and convincing them that they are in a relationship.

The Financial Ombudsman is a free and easy-to-use service that settles complaints between consumers and businesses that provide financial services. Generally, the cases that come to us involve scammers seducing victims on social media and gaming apps, and enticing them towards more private messaging apps.

The scammers will sometimes search for profiles of widowed people or divorcees. They manipulate consumers, preying on their emotions and often request money for time-sensitive and deeply personal things, such as medical care or emergency travel.

While romance scams are not the most common kind of scam that we see, they can have a huge emotional and financial impact on a person.

Patrick Hurley, Ombudsman Director at the Financial Ombudsman Service, said:

In one complaint that we dealt with, a woman met someone on a well-known social media platform, who pretended to have a romantic interest in her. The woman had faced difficulties in her personal life and the scammer zeroed in on her circumstances and, over time, convinced her to send over £70,000. He claimed he wanted to have a life with her but needed money to start his business in the UK first.

Last year, the FCA published its multi-firm review into romance scams and found that while there were some examples of good practice, there were instances of firms missing opportunities to identify suspicious transactions.

Training staff in early intervention and recognising the signs of vulnerability can prevent these kinds of cases escalating, sometimes even eliminating the need for consumers to take a complaint to our service.

Scammers can be incredibly sophisticated, making it difficult for even the most cautious individuals to recognise the deception. The rise of AI, and the increased popularity of social media platforms and dating apps, has made it difficult to differentiate fact from fiction.

As a result, the Financial Ombudsman has published tips to help consumers.

1. Don’t send money to someone you’ve only met online. No matter how long you’ve been speaking to them online or what they promise.
2. Pause and think. If someone pressures you into transferring money, stop and ask yourself if it could be a scam.
3. Listen to your bank if they warn you about a scam and answer their questions accurately. Not doing so hinders their ability to protect you from financial harm.
4. If someone tries to convince you to invest money with a firm, check the FCA’s register to confirm that it's authorised.

About the data 

The data in the press release refers to the calendar year.

All data in the press release has been rounded to the nearest 100. 

The PSR’s rules

The PSR introduced new reimbursement rules for victims of APP fraud came into force in October 2024. This puts the onus on payment service providers to reimburse customers who are victims of scams unless the customer has been grossly negligent.

The new reimbursement rules cover scams up to £85,000 involving UK bank transfers – other payment types such as cash or card are not covered. The Financial Ombudsman Service can still consider complaints about the majority of APP payments.

• Find out how to bring a complaint to our service if you were tricked into making a payment.
• For more advice on protecting yourself from scams, visit Report Fraud.
• For free and impartial guidance, backed by government, on money matters, visit Money Helper.