Scammers are opportunistic and use holidays or world events to try to trick people. Ahead of Valentine\u2019s Day and <\/span>as part of our global anti-scam awareness campaign to protect people online, <\/span>w<\/span>e\u2019re sharing relevant product tools on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram, new research into romance scams across the internet and updates on our enforcements against scammers masquerading as military personnel and others.<\/span><\/p>\n Romance scams are a common scheme in which scammers target people in a variety of ways \u2013 malicious texts or emails, dating apps, social media posts, discussion forums and more \u2013 under romantic pretenses. In these cases, scammers would typically pose as attractive, single and successful individuals, often with a military or business background. They would send cold messages to many targets at once \u2013 in a typical spray and pray scheme \u2013 to initiate contact. If a target were to respond, the scammer would try to build trust over a period of time, ultimately asking for money or suggesting a fraudulent investment opportunity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here are some tips on how to spot romance scams and stay safe:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to our ongoing detection and enforcement against scams, we worked with open source researchers at Graphika to find and disrupt scams that take advantage of people looking for relationships. Where these scams showed up on our apps, we took action against the scammers behind them, including blocking their websites and taking down their accounts. Here are examples of three common scams to watch out for, according to Graphika\u2019s <\/span>research<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Military Impersonation\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n We disrupted romance scammers who posed as US military personnel in an attempt to target people on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube and Quora. They typically posted about \u201cfeeling lonely\u201d and \u201clooking for love.\u201d If someone responded, the scammers would invite them to engage on WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal or Facebook Messenger, often using Nigerian phone numbers. According to public posts online,<\/span> scammers would also ask for a wire transfer or an online gift card to cover the costs of a long-distance phone call or postage for a romantic gift.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Celebrity Impersonation<\/b><\/p>\n We disrupted scammers posing as celebrities in an attempt to target people in the US, UAE, Japan and other countries on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X, as well as messaging apps and websites. They posted photos or videos of celebrities in fan groups or in comments, claiming they were \u201clooking for love.\u201d If someone responded, the scammers would ask to contact them via messaging apps, including WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram or Zangi. The scammers would also ask people to send money via wire transfer, cryptocurrency exchange or gift cards under the pretense of helping the celebrity purchase romantic gifts or escape financial difficulties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fake Match-Making Agencies\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n We disrupted Kenya-linked scammers posing as fake dating agencies in an attempt to target people in Africa on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram, claiming to offer opportunities to meet rich men from Western countries or build relationships with \u201cAfrican women.\u201d The \u201cdating agencies\u201d posted about fictitious bachelors based in or traveling to Africa and looking for love, at times promising relocation to a Western country for a future partner. If someone responded, the scammers would direct them to a Telegram channel or WhatsApp group for more information, including about a fee for a \u201cbachelor\u201d\u2019s contact details.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To help people stay safe this Valentine\u2019s Day, we partnered with a top internet safety expert and ethical hacker, Rachel Tobac, to share how to avoid scammers who target people across the internet with romance scams.<\/p>\n Here are the anti-scam tools we\u2019ve built to help users stay safe.<\/span><\/p>\n On Facebook Messenger<\/b>, we rolled out Safety Notices to caution you when you\u2019re chatting with someone whose account shows signals of suspicious activity, and who may be based in a different country. We are testing similar nudges to teens on <\/span>Instagram<\/b> and will begin expanding them to more users in the coming months.<\/span><\/p>\n We constantly work to find and disrupt romance scams targeting people across the internet, based on the malicious signals we identify and constantly update, as part of our investigations and scaled detection efforts around the world. In 2024, we took down over 408,000 accounts from Nigeria, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Ghana, Benin and Cameroon. They posed as military personnel or businessmen to try to trick people in Australia, the UK, EU, US, South Korea, Syria, Japan and Ukraine into engaging with them. This year, we detected and removed over 116,000 Pages and accounts on Facebook and Instagram, primarily <\/span>in Nigeria, Ghana, C\u00f4te D\u2019Ivoire, Benin, Kenya and Cameroon, engaged in similar activity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to taking down scam networks<\/span>, we\u2019ve started testing another layer of defense that uses facial recognition technology. If our detection systems or user reports flag a potential imposter account, we\u2019ll compare the profile pictures on the suspicious account against a public figure\u2019s Facebook and Instagram profile pictures. If there\u2019s a match, we\u2019ll take the account down. More details are available <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Scammers constantly evolve their tactics to evade detection and rarely, if ever, target one single platform. They do so to ensure that any one company can only see a small piece of these scam campaigns. This makes collaboration with law enforcement and within industries, including the financial services industry, even more critical in our anti-scam efforts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For example, as part of the <\/span>Tech Against Scams Coalition<\/span><\/a>, we\u2019re actively working with our peers at crypto and dating apps to bring together technology industry leaders, experts from law enforcement and NGOs from different regions of the world to discuss the latest trends and strategies to prevent, detect and respond to criminal scammers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re running timely safety education efforts around the globe in partnership with public figures, NGOs, creators, consumer groups and others on an ongoing basis. Here are a few recent examples.<\/span><\/p>\n We partnered with Childhelp<\/a>, one of the leading child safety non-profits in the US, to develop a free first-of-its kind education curriculum for middle schoolers on how to stay safe online \u2013 including recognizing and avoiding sextortion scams and where to go for help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In Japan, we showed in-app tips on spotting romance scams that led people to <\/span>Meta\u2019s Anti-Scam hub <\/span><\/a>for more information.<\/span><\/p>\n In Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia, we worked with about 50 creators to help us raise awareness about scams, including romance scams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In Singapore, in partnership with Eyeyah!, the Singapore Police Force, National Crime Prevention Council and Cybersecurity Agency of Singapore, <\/span>we published an\u00a0 illustrated guide on how to spot and avoid scams<\/span><\/a>. So far, over 40,000 print copies have been distributed for free to students through primary and secondary schools art clubs. <\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\nWhat Are Romance Scams?<\/h2>\n
Anti-Scam Tips Ahead of Valentine\u2019s Day<\/h2>\n
Romance Scams to Watch For<\/h2>\n
Finding Love While Avoiding Scams: A PSA from Rachel Tobac<\/h2>\n
Our Latest Anti-Scam Tools<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nTaking Action Against Scammers<\/h2>\n
Working With Others to Protect People From Scams<\/h2>\n
Raising Awareness on Online Safety Around the World<\/h2>\n