Romance scams and pig butchering

A romance scam is a type of fraud in which a scammer pretends to be romantically interested in someone in order to get money or personal information from them¹. The scam usually starts online, where someone pretends to form a romantic connection before slowly manipulating their target into sending money or sharing personal details². The National Crime Agency describes the typical pattern: criminals create fake profiles on dating sites and social media, build a relationship, and then invent a reason for the victim to pay³.

The sums involved are large and growing. UK Finance recorded £39.2 million lost to romance scams in 2025 across 6,335 cases, the highest case total ever reported and the fifth consecutive year of increase⁴. Because victims are tricked into making the payments themselves, these are authorised push payment (APP) scams: cases where someone is tricked into sending money to a fraudster posing as a genuine payee⁵. That matters, because it determines which refund rules apply.

What a romance scam is and how it starts

A romance scam begins with a person who does not exist as presented. The criminal uses a fake profile to form a relationship with you, as Take Five, the national anti-fraud campaign, puts it⁹. Most of the time this starts on dating sites, social media, or messaging apps². Scammers often use fake identities, stolen pictures, or AI-generated images to make themselves look real².

The scammer's aim is not the relationship itself. It is to move the victim, step by step, towards sending money or handing over information that can be used to steal from them². Romance scams are becoming more common, and they can have a huge emotional as well as financial impact². Independent Age notes that scammers may use dating websites, social networks and chat rooms to trick people into giving away information or money, and that romance scammers con millions of pounds out of people in the UK each year¹⁰.

Because the victim authorises each payment, banks treat these cases differently from fraud where a card is used without permission. The Payment Systems Regulator defines APP scams as cases where someone is tricked into sending money to a fraudster posing as a genuine payee, and lists romance scams among the types⁵. The practical consequence is that refund rights depend on the bank transfer reimbursement rules, not on card protection. The comparison of authorised and unauthorised payments explains the difference.

How romance scammers build trust over weeks or months

Romance scams are rarely instant. Scammers spend weeks or even months creating believable stories and building a connection before inventing a crisis where they urgently need money². Which? describes the common tactics: contacting you constantly, flattering you and making you feel special¹². The end game is that the romance scammer will eventually ask you to send money for something that sounds like a legitimate cause, such as hospital treatment, or debts run up because they lost their job¹².

The grooming period is what makes these scams effective. By the time the request for money arrives, the victim has an emotional investment in the relationship and a reason to believe the story. Which?'s research on the psychology of scams records real cases: Francesca, 63, lost £5,000 to a romance scam and did not seek reimbursement; Kevin, 59, lost £550 and was denied reimbursement; Katie, 52, was also denied¹³. The pattern in these cases is of repeated payments over time, not a single transfer.

Age UK warns that technology has made the grooming stage more convincing. Criminals might use deepfake videos in romance scams, or to impersonate people you know⁶. A video call is therefore no longer proof on its own that a person is real, though a refusal to make one at all remains a warning sign.

Pig butchering: when romance turns into a crypto investment pitch

Some romance scams never ask for money for a crisis. Instead they ask you to invest. Which?'s scams glossary defines pig butchering as scammers grooming you into an online relationship, only to gain your trust and get you to put money into an investment scam¹⁴. Which?'s reporting on investment scams describes it as a hybrid of romance and investment fraud, typically starting via a dating platform or a wrong-number text, with a period of grooming before the investment pitch, which is typically in cryptocurrency or property¹⁵.

The investment side follows the pattern of crypto fraud generally. Take Five reports that criminals advertise schemes promising, in some cases, high returns through cryptocurrency investing or mining¹⁶. The Financial Ombudsman Service's complaints data found that just over half of the investment scams it saw involved cryptocurrencies¹⁷. The fake scheme may even show a dashboard with apparent profits, which is what persuades victims to keep paying in.

The name is unpleasant but descriptive: the victim is "fattened" with attention and small apparent gains before being "butchered" when the scheme vanishes with the money. The same deepfake technology used in romance scams can be used to sell the investments, with criminals deepfaking videos of celebrities to promote investments that are not genuine¹⁸.

Crypto losses: where FSCS protection stops

Money lost to a pig butchering scam is doubly exposed. Not only was the transfer authorised, but the asset it bought has no safety net. The FSCS states that most cryptoassets, including virtual currencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin, are not FSCS protected because they are not regulated⁷. Its scams guidance repeats the point: cryptoassets are virtual currencies and not FCA regulated, which means they are not FSCS protected¹⁹.

Take Five's investment fraud guidance is blunt about the consequence: cryptoassets can be highly volatile and, in the UK, most are not regulated like other financial products, so you could lose all your money and may not be protected by the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if something goes wrong²⁰. Take Five also notes that crypto scams mostly are not covered by the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme¹⁶.

This does not leave a victim with nothing to claim, but the claim runs against the bank that sent the money, not against any investment protection scheme. The page on FSCS protection or APP reimbursement sets out which scheme applies to which kind of loss, and can you get a refund after being scammed into buying crypto? covers the specific position for crypto purchases.

Warning signs of a romance scam

The Money and Pensions Service lists the most common signs of a romance scam: a reluctance to meet up in person, talk on the phone, or video chat; asking for financial help early in the relationship; and an extremely attractive dating profile with very appealing photos and an impressive career¹. Take Five adds the same core advice from the other direction: avoid sending money to someone you have never met or have only met a few times, especially if they are declaring strong feelings⁹.

What makes the signs hard to spot is confidence. In a MaPS survey of UK adults carried out between 20 and 23 January 2026, seven in ten (70%) said they would be able to spot a romance scam, but many failed to identify the most common signs¹. Just 14% recognised that an extremely attractive profile was itself a warning sign¹. The gap was widest by group: only half of single men aged 18 to 34 said being asked for money or a loan early on was a definite sign, compared with 85% of single women aged 45 and over¹.

A fuller checklist of general fraud indicators is on the warning signs page. The signs specific to romance scams are:

• Reluctance to meet in person, speak on the phone or video chat¹
• Asking for money or financial help early in the relationship¹
• A profile that seems too attractive, with photos and a career to match¹
• Constant contact, flattery and making you feel special¹²
• A crisis that arrives suddenly and needs money urgently²
• A promise to pay you back⁹

The stories and payment methods scammers use

The stories are designed to be believable and hard to check. Take Five notes there will often be a promise of paying you back⁹. Which? describes the classic requests: money for what sounds like a legitimate cause, such as paying for hospital treatment, or covering debts because they have lost their job¹². The scammer may be working abroad on an oil rig, serving in the armed forces, or stuck by a customs fee on a package none of which can be verified from the UK.

The payment method matters, because it changes what protection exists. A bank transfer is an authorised payment, so any refund depends on the APP reimbursement rules⁵. A payment by card may carry different rights, as the comparison of bank transfer and card payments explains. Some scammers ask for gift cards or cryptocurrency precisely because these are harder to trace and refund.

The frequency of payments is a distinguishing feature of romance scams. UK Finance recorded 9.7 payments on average per romance scam in 2025, the highest of all eight scam types it tracks⁴. This is not a one-off deception but a sustained extraction, which is why the losses per case are high and why victims often do not realise for months.

Romance fraud losses: £39.2m across 6,335 cases

UK Finance's Annual Fraud Report 2026 records £39.2 million lost to romance scams in 2025, the highest ever, across 6,335 cases⁴. Its detailed fraud report gives the same figures and the same verdict: the highest case total ever reported and the fifth consecutive year an increase has been recorded²¹. For context, investment scams were far larger at £221.5 million across 14,893 cases in the same year, and advance fee scams £58.4 million across 24,080 cases²¹.

Figures from UK Finance's 2026 fraud reports⁴.

There is some better news within the numbers. UK Finance reports that 67% of all losses related to romance scams were returned to the victim in 2025, with £26.2 million returned in total⁴. That still means roughly a third of the money lost was not returned, and individual outcomes vary widely: the ombudsman and Which? case studies include victims denied reimbursement entirely¹³.

How to check someone you have met online is real

No single check proves a person is genuine, but several make a fake identity much harder to sustain. The most basic is the one the scammer will resist most: meeting in person, or at least a live video conversation. Reluctance to do either is one of the most common signs of a romance scam¹.

For the websites and links a contact sends, Which? advises using a tool like who.is to look up domain name registrations: a recent registration is a good indication that it is a scam website¹². This is worth doing before any investment platform a new contact mentions, since pig butchering scams depend on victims trusting a site that may be days old.

Other checks worth making:

• Search the profile photo to see if it belongs to someone else²
• Be sceptical of anyone who declares strong feelings very quickly⁹
• Check any investment firm they mention on the FCA Warning List and the Financial Services Register
• Ask questions about their local area, workplace or daily life, and watch for inconsistencies

Never send money to someone you have not met in person

This is the single rule that prevents nearly every romance scam. Age UK's guidance on AI scams puts it plainly: whatever the story, never send money to someone you have not met in person⁶. Take Five's version is to avoid sending money to someone you have never met or have only met a few times, especially if they are declaring strong feelings⁹.

The rule holds no matter how convincing the story or how long the relationship has run. A scammer who has spent months building trust has invested that time precisely to make the request feel reasonable when it comes. The crisis, the hospital bill, the customs fee, the investment opportunity: each is a reason to break the rule.

It also applies to requests that do not look like payments. Handing over bank details, passwords or copies of identity documents to someone met online can lead to identity theft rather than a direct loss. Official bodies never ask for bank details by text, social media, email or via links to click¹, and a genuine romantic partner has no need of them either.

What to do if you think you are being scammed

If you suspect a romance scam, stop sending money immediately². Then act quickly, because the sooner the bank knows, the better the chance of recovering a payment. The Financial Ombudsman Service sets out the immediate steps for scam victims: contact your bank or payment services provider immediately, contact the police on 101, report the scam to Report Fraud, and keep records of all contact and correspondence between you and the scammer²². The Payment Systems Regulator gives the same first instruction: as soon as you realise you have fallen victim to a scam, immediately contact your bank to report it²³.

Take Five summarises the same process: if you think you have been scammed, contact your bank immediately and report it to the police at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040²⁴. The detailed walkthrough is on the first steps for victims page, and where to report a scam covers the routes in each UK nation.

If a friend or relative is the victim, the approach matters. Scammers build emotional trust, so a victim may be embarrassed, defensive or unwilling to believe the relationship is fake. The page on supporting a victim covers how to raise it constructively. Aegon adds a warning for afterwards: victims should be extremely cautious of any future contact from someone claiming to be able to reclaim funds lost to a scam, as it is highly unlikely an unfamiliar person would legitimately contact you for this reason².

Getting money back from your bank

A bank transfer to a scammer is an authorised push payment, and there are rules on reimbursing victims of these scams⁵. Contacting the bank immediately matters for two reasons: it may allow the payment to be recalled before it leaves the fraudster's account, and it starts the complaints process if the bank refuses a refund²³.

Refunds are not automatic. The ombudsman's case material includes a customer, Nadia, whose bank refused to refund £100,000 she was persuaded to send to a fraudster by a sophisticated social engineering attack²². Which?'s psychology research includes romance scam victims who were denied reimbursement, and one who never claimed¹³. A bank can refuse where it considers the customer ignored clear warnings, a subject covered on the consumer standard of caution page, and there are limits and an excess on refunds, explained under the APP reimbursement limit and the £100 excess.

If the bank says no, the complaint does not end there. The Financial Ombudsman Service can look at complaints involving fraud and scams, including unauthorised payments and identity theft²². The route is set out on how to complain to your bank and taking a refused scam refund to the Financial Ombudsman. Extra protection may apply if you were vulnerable at the time, as the page on vulnerable customers explains.

Recovery scams: the fraud that follows

Losing money to a romance scam can mark the start of a second scam. Which? defines a recovery scam as one where fraudsters target those who have been victims of scams and ask for a small fee to recover their lost funds¹⁴. Typically, recovery scammers promise they can get your money back for a fee, but they cannot, and any money paid is lost too²⁵.

The warning signs Which? lists are: being asked to pay money to get your money back; being contacted out of the blue after having money stolen; being rushed to decide in a short timeframe; and the person knowing a lot of details about the scam²⁵. That last sign is what makes recovery scams convincing: details of the original fraud circulate among criminals, or are visible in reports, so the "recovery agent" can sound authentic.

Take Five gives the same warning for investment scams generally: be alert to follow-up scams, as criminals may contact you again pretending they can recover your money for a fee²⁰. The Scottish Government's guidance describes the same fraud, with victims targeted by criminals posing as recovery agents claiming to be able to recover lost money, in order to get personal details and additional money²⁶. The dedicated page on recovery room scams covers the pattern in full, and should you pay a firm to recover money lost to a scam? answers the question directly.

Where to get free help

Free, impartial support exists at every stage. MoneyHelper, the government-backed money guidance service, runs a Financial Crimes and Scams Unit on 0800 015 4402⁸, and the Money and Pensions Service directs romance scam victims to report to Report Fraud and call that number¹. MoneyHelper's scams pages describe the types of scam and what to do about each⁸.

For reporting, the route depends on where you live. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, report to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040²⁴. In Scotland, contact Police Scotland on 101, or Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000¹¹. StepChange, the debt charity, lists both routes alongside its own guidance on spotting, avoiding and reporting scams¹¹.

If money has been sent and the bank refuses a refund, the Financial Ombudsman Service is the free next step²². If the scam has left you in debt, StepChange offers free debt advice¹¹. And if you are helping someone else who has been targeted, the supporting a victim page sets out how to approach it, and the wider scams and fraud guide covers every type of fraud on this site.