Finding “the one,” falling in love and living happily ever after can be a challenge, especially when people are dishonest. Unfortunately, we can’t always tell when people aren’t telling us the truth or they’re hiding something from us until it's too late. Con artists know this and take full advantage of it, but it seems some places have it worse than others when it comes to romance scams.
- A new report reveals the most “catfished” states, where people fall for fake romance scams most.
- For those who don’t know, a “catfish” is someone who pretends to be someone else online, using fake photos and made up profiles to lure victims into a romantic relationship online, often to get money from them.
- Researchers with Emisil set out to find out where this happens most often, using Google searches and data from the FBI.
- Their team analyzed three things: the number of annual victims per 100-thousand residents in each state, how much money was lost and the number of Internet searches for anything “catfished”-related.
- California takes the top spot, the state’s victims lost the most money - over $183-million to romance scams. They also have the most romance scam reports with 3,023.
- Alaska has the highest number of victims, 11.9 victims per 100-thousand people, while Nevada has the most “catfished” searches with 141.7 per 100-thousand.
- New Mexico residents lost the least amount of money to romance scammers, while Texas has the fewest victims, 5.9 per 100-thousand people.
The Most Catfished U.S. States
- California
- Florida
- Nevada
- Arizona
- Washington
- Utah
- Texas
- Oregon
- New Mexico
- Alaska
Source: Daily Mail
Scott's Thoughts:
- And you know the numbers are actually higher because not everyone reports being the victim of a fake romance scam!
- Virginia is not in the top ten because we don't fall for that crap!
- Thankfully WV is not on the top ten list either. Those people in California must be real dumb!