How to Report a Romance Scammer: A Step-by-Step Guide for Families

You have confirmed your parent has been targeted by a romance scammer. The anger is understandable — someone deliberately targeted a vulnerable person and built a fake relationship to steal money and trust. The question now is: what can you actually do about it?

Reporting a romance scammer will not always recover lost money, and the scammers are often overseas where enforcement is difficult. But reporting is still worth doing — and in some cases, it can make a meaningful difference. This guide explains where to report, what information to collect first, and what to realistically expect from the process.

Gather the Evidence Before Reporting

Before filing any report, organize the documentation. The more specific you are, the more useful your report becomes. What to collect:

Communication records:

• Screenshots of every message sent through the platform where the relationship started (Facebook, Instagram, a dating site, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.)
• Phone numbers the scammer called or texted from
• Email addresses used in the scam
• Any voice messages or voicemails if they were left

Financial records:

• Dates and amounts of every money transfer or payment
• The payment method: bank wire, cryptocurrency, gift cards, Zelle, Venmo, Western Union, MoneyGram
• Recipient names, wallet addresses, gift card denominations, or account numbers provided by the scammer
• Bank or credit card statements showing the transactions

Identity information about the scammer:

• Profile name(s) used
• Photos they sent — save these for reverse image search (they are almost always stolen from real people)
• Any personal details they provided about themselves: claimed name, location, profession, military unit, employer
• Links to their social media profiles (even if already deleted, the URL is useful)

Timeline:

• When the contact started
• When money was first requested
• The story they used to justify the request
• Total amount lost

Step 1: Report to the FTC (United States)

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission is the primary agency for consumer fraud reporting. File a report at reportfraud.ftc.gov. This is free, you can report on behalf of a family member, and the process takes about 15 minutes with the documentation above.

Your report goes into a database used by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. It also helps the FTC identify patterns across thousands of reports — which is how large scam operations are identified for prosecution. You will receive an FTC report number, which you will need for other steps.

For identity theft issues connected to the scam, also visit identitytheft.gov for a personalized recovery plan.

Step 2: Report to the FBI IC3

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov is the FBI's dedicated cybercrime and fraud reporting portal. Romance scams fall under their jurisdiction, especially when the scammer is believed to be operating internationally.

IC3 reports are reviewed by analysts who look for patterns that may support criminal investigations. Not every individual report results in direct action, but aggregated reports help identify organized fraud rings — which is how major prosecutions happen.

File a separate report at ic3.gov even if you have already filed with the FTC. Include the same documentation: payment details, communication records, and the scammer's stated identity information.

Step 3: Report to the Dating Site or Platform Where It Started

Every major platform has a fraud or abuse reporting mechanism. Reporting the scammer's profile is important because it can get the account removed — protecting other potential victims — and the platform can preserve records that law enforcement may request later.

Facebook / Instagram: Go to the scammer's profile > three-dot menu > Report. Select "It's a scam" or "Pretending to be someone."

Dating sites (Match, eHarmony, OurTime, etc.): Use the "Report" button on the profile. Also email the platform's support or safety team directly with documentation — they take romantic fraud reports seriously because it affects their reputation.

WhatsApp: Long-press the scammer's chat > Report Contact.

Telegram: Go to the scammer's profile > Report.

Zelle, Venmo, Cash App: Report the scammer's profile through the app's help center. For cash app and Venmo, also report the specific payment as fraud — though for "authorized" transfers (where the victim willingly sent money), recovery is not guaranteed.

Step 4: Report to the Platform Where Money Was Sent

If money was sent via a traceable payment method, immediate reporting to the financial institution may stop the transfer or recover funds:

Bank wire: Call your parent's bank immediately and request a wire recall. Wire recalls have a narrow window — usually 24 to 48 hours — but they occasionally succeed. Ask the bank to contact the recipient institution and freeze the funds pending investigation.

Western Union / MoneyGram: Both have fraud hotlines. Western Union: 1-800-448-1492. MoneyGram: 1-800-926-9400. They can attempt to stop a transfer if it has not been picked up. They also maintain consumer fraud databases.

Cryptocurrency: Crypto transactions are largely irreversible, but you should still report the wallet address to the exchange where the crypto was purchased (Coinbase, Kraken, etc.). Exchanges can flag wallets associated with fraud and may be required to cooperate with law enforcement subpoenas.

Gift cards: Call the issuer of the gift card immediately (Apple: 1-800-275-2273, Google Play: support.google.com). If the card has not yet been redeemed, there is a small chance the balance can be frozen. Also file a report with the FTC, which has a specific gift card fraud program and presses card issuers to improve fraud protections.

Step 5: Report to the Senior Medicare Patrol or Adult Protective Services (If Applicable)

If the scam involved medical identity information, or if your parent is cognitively vulnerable, contact Adult Protective Services (APS) in your state. APS can provide additional resources and, in some cases, connect families with legal protections.

If the scammer used the relationship to gather Medicare or insurance information, report to the HHS OIG fraud hotline at 1-800-HHS-TIPS.

Step 6: For International Romance Scams — Additional Reporting

Most romance scammers operate from overseas — West Africa (particularly Nigeria and Ghana), Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe are the most common origins. International cases are harder to prosecute, but reporting is still valuable:

For UK residents: Report to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040.

For Canadian residents: Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at antifraudcentre.ca or 1-888-495-8501.

For Australian residents: Report to Scamwatch at scamwatch.gov.au and to the Australian Federal Police through ReportCyber at cyber.gov.au.

INTERPOL: Does not accept individual fraud reports, but the IC3 (US) and Action Fraud (UK) forward patterns to international law enforcement.

Step 7: Do a Reverse Image Search on the Scammer's Photos

The photos a romance scammer uses are almost never of a real person they know — they are stolen from social media profiles, military photo repositories, or stock photo sites. A reverse image search can identify where the photos came from and, in many cases, confirms the scammer's identity theft of a real person's images.

To do a reverse image search:

• Save one of the scammer's profile photos
• Go to images.google.com and drag the photo into the search bar (or click the camera icon and upload)
• Also try TinEye at tineye.com, which searches a different image database

If the search returns results showing the same photo attached to a different name on LinkedIn, Facebook, or military forums, that confirms the scammer stole the identity. Include this information in your FTC and IC3 reports.

What to Realistically Expect

Money recovery is rare but not impossible. Wire recalls occasionally succeed. Some financial institutions have begun voluntarily refunding romance scam victims, especially when the transaction pattern was clearly anomalous. In the UK, the Authorised Push Payment fraud reimbursement scheme offers more systematic protection.

Criminal prosecution happens, but slowly. Large romance scam operations are prosecuted — the DOJ and FBI have successfully convicted scammers operating from the US, and international cooperation has led to extraditions. These investigations take years, not weeks.

Your report contributes to pattern recognition. Even if no direct action follows your individual report, it is added to databases that identify operations at scale. The value is cumulative.

Protecting your parent going forward. After the immediate reporting is complete, the longer-term work is helping your parent process what happened (without shame or blame) and building protections that prevent future targeting.

Reporting a romance scammer is one of the most useful things you can do after discovering the fraud — not because it guarantees justice, but because it creates the documentation trail that law enforcement needs to act and may prevent the same scammer from victimizing the next person.

The Elder Scam Shield guide covers the full arc of romance scam intervention: recognizing the warning signs before money is lost, navigating the difficult conversation with a parent who does not yet believe they are being scammed, and building the financial monitoring and digital protections that catch the next attempt before it starts.