The frequency of romance scams, which involve a scammer posing online as someone they’re not for the purpose of deceiving and ultimately extorting an unsuspecting victim, have increased precipitously year over year since the explosion of online dating first began. Not only can this scheme be financially devastating for victims, but it also takes a major emotional and psychological toll that many never fully recover from.

Today I’m joined by Michelle Kaplun from CTG’s Illicit Finance & Economic Threats team to discuss the mechanics of how these scams function, who the victims and perpetrators are, the consequences for this type of fraud, and what can be done to stop and reverse this alarming trend.