Meta-owned Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp led the way originating 32%, 26% and 9% of all the fraud in the report, respectively.
According to the FBI, romance scams occur when a criminal creates a fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust then proceeds to manipulate and steal from the victim.
Unlike traditional banks, there’s no formal way to flag suspicious activity and it’s only possible to reverse transactions with a private-key that’s difficult to acquire.