Is This New Relationship Dating Or Defrauding?

Olympia – The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) joins multiple state and federal agencies warning people about the high cost of relationship or romance scams as part of the 2026 national “Dating Or Defrauding?” social media awareness campaign. During the Valentine’s Week (Feb. 9-14) campaign, DFI will use the #DatingOrDefrauding hashtag and direct visitors to helpful resources.

“We know scammers are targeting people in Washington State every day,” DFI Director Charlie Clark said. “The goal of this campaign is to raise people’s awareness so they may be more likely to take precautions and avoid being the next target of a heartless scammer.”

The FBI identifies relationship or romance scams as when “a criminal uses a fake online identity to gain a victim's affection and trust. The scammer then uses the illusion of a romantic or close relationship to manipulate and/or steal from the victim. The scammer wants to establish a relationship as quickly as possible, endear himself to the victim, and gain trust. Scammers may propose marriage and make plans to meet in person, but that will never happen. Eventually, they will ask for money.”

By the numbers

FBI offices throughout the U.S. report enormous losses to relationship and romance scams in their jurisdictions and note that an estimated $10 billion annually is lost in the U.S. to these scammers. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data from just the first three quarters of 2025 shows people in Washington State alone lost more than $22 million. 

One of the most disheartening aspects of these numbers, is that we know these are only estimates. Not reporting and underreporting is common. The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Western District of Washington explains the underreporting saying victim’s shame, guilt, embarrassment, “and disbelief are among the reasons that only an estimated 15 percent of the nation's fraud victims report their crimes to law enforcement. Other reasons include victims' doubt about their own judgment, a sense of betrayal, and fears about how their family members, friends, and business associates will react.” 

Eyes on the problem

The national, interagency “Dating Or Defrauding?” social media awareness campaign, coordinated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), focuses on warning people to be skeptical of any requests from new online friends or romantic interests. The goal is to make people aware of the many ways scammers are trying to get your money and make the information easy to share with others. The campaign highlights a common warning sign: requests to send cryptocurrency, or other forms of payment, to invest in fake crypto websites.

In 2025, DFI was among the 19 state, federal, and private sector organizations participated in the effort, which resulted in:

• 565 posts included the #DatingOrDefrauding hashtag across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X. (An additional 406 followers also spontaneously joined the efforts.)
• 65 million impressions throughout the campaign.

Visit www.dfi.wa.gov/10B for more information on how to identify, prevent and report scams. Learn more about investment scams reported to DFI by visiting our Investment Scam Tracker.