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With dating apps just a few clicks away and even dating integrations in social media platforms, it’s not uncommon to find a DM from someone that leads to a new conversation. Though meeting people online allows for a new type of connection, the veil of anonymity on the internet can also create security risks.
Catfishing, the act of using a fictional online persona to lure someone into a (typically fake) relationship, has become an all-too-common scam in modern times, costing American victims more than $500 million in 2021.
With Valentine’s Day on the horizon and love on the minds of many, our team at All About Cookies used FBI and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data to determine which states are hardest hit by catfishing scams, how prevalent problems are for different age groups, and find out how much catfishing scams are costing residents in each state. We'll also share tips on how to prevent catfishing scams and how the best identity theft protection services can keep your money and data locked down.
Though originally gaining notoriety as a scam with the 2010 documentary Catfish and subsequent MTV show of the same name, data from the FTC shows that catfishing became a much more common problem in recent years.
In the first quarter of 2019 the agency registered 2,134 catfishing reports, a number that steadily increased quarter over quarter until it peaked at 9,779 reports in the third quarter of 2021, a 358% increase in just two and a half years.
Since 2019, the average number of quarterly reports jumped from 3,131 in 2019 to 8,596 in 2022, an increase of more than 174%. Today, it’s estimated there are approximately 4 times as many reports of catfishing scams than there were at the beginning of 2019.
As cases of catfishing go up, it makes sense that the amount of money lost to these kinds of scams would rise as well, which the data confirms is happening. Catfishing fraud accounted for $32.9 million in money lost by victims at the start of 2019, a number that rose to $141.8 million two years later at the start of 2022, a 331% increase.
In 2022, the FBI reported average quarterly losses of $132.5 million, the highest average of any year to date. That represents a more than 214% increase from 2019 when quarterly losses averaged $42 million.
People of different ages are impacted differently by catfishing scams and romance fraud. Despite having the third-fewest number of reported catfishing incidents between 2019 and 2022, 60-69 year-olds have lost more money to these kinds of scams than any other age group — more than $360 million in four years.
Middle-aged people may lose the most money to catfishing, but they aren’t actually the most likely to fall victim to these schemes: 30-39 year-olds reported more incidents of catfishing than any other age group since 2019.
While the number of people targeted and victimized by catfishing drops significantly with age, it’s worth noting that older Americans are disproportionately affected financially in these scams. On average, romance scams cost Americans 70 and older more than $30,000 per incident — a rate more than eight times higher than cases involving victims under 30.
Relative to population size, residents of Alaska and Nevada have the nation’s biggest catfishing problems. Those are the only two states that reported more than 10 incidents of catfishing per 100,000 people in 2021, coming in at 11.9 in Alaska and 11.2 in Nevada.
Two more states as well as the District of Columbia reported at least nine victims per 100,000 people to round out the top five.
| State | Number of victims per capita |
| 1. Alaska | 11.9 |
| 2. Nevada | 11.2 |
| 3. Wyoming | 9.5 |
| 4. Arizona | 9.0 |
| 5. District of Columbia | 9.0 |
| 6. Oregon | 8.5 |
| 7. Washington | 8.5 |
| 8. New Mexico | 8.1 |
| 9. Florida | 8.0 |
| 10. Utah | 7.7 |
Louisiana is the only state that’s home to fewer than four catfish victims per 100,000 people, coming in at 3.8.
The neighboring state of Mississippi has the second-lowest rate in the country with just 4.3 victims per 100,000. Iowa takes bronze in this regard with a rate of 4.4 victims per 100,000 people, and is also the last state with a rate lower than 4.5 per 100,000.
| State | Number of victims per capita |
| 1. Louisiana | 3.8 |
| 2. Mississippi | 4.3 |
| 3. Iowa | 4.4 |
| 4. Georgia | 4.6 |
| 5. Illinois | 4.7 |
| 6. Ohio | 4.7 |
| 7. Idaho | 4.8 |
| 8. Maine | 4.9 |
| 9. Connecticut | 4.9 |
| 10. Kansas | 5.0 |
When it comes to the average amount of money lost to catfishing, one state stands out above the rest. While there were just 58 total instances of catfishing in the state of North Dakota reported to the FBI in 2021, those 58 cases resulted in over $12 million lost, which averages over $200,000 per victim.
After North Dakota there’s a major drop in the average amount of money lost per victim in the rest of the country, as Rhode Island’s average loss of $62,773 is just over $140,000 less than North Dakota’s average loss. California is the only state other than those two where the average catfishing victim lost more than $60,000 in 2021.
| State | Average amount lost |
| 1. North Dakota | $209,289 |
| 2. Rhode Island | $62,773 |
| 3. California | $60,843 |
| 4. New Jersey | $58,303 |
| 5. Louisiana | $57,991 |
| 6. Colorado | $55,040 |
| 7. Massachusetts | $52,522 |
| 8. New York | $49,296 |
| 9. Washington | $48,644 |
| 10. Hawaii | $46,084 |
Residents of New England appear to be among the luckiest in the country when it comes to avoiding big losses at the hands of catfishers. Maine residents lost just $5,775 per victim on average in 2021, the lowest rate in the country.
Two nearby states, New Hampshire and Vermont, also make the top five with less than $15,000 lost on average. In between those New England states are Arkansas, the only state other than Maine where victims lost less than $10,000 on average, and New Mexico. New Mexico is notable as the state that’s actually in the top 10 in terms of catfishing victims per 100,000 people (8.1), meaning that while residents fall victim to catfishing frequently, they’re losing very little money when they do.
| State | Average amount lost |
| 1. Maine | $5,775 |
| 2. Arkansas | $7,977 |
| 3. New Mexico | $11,571 |
| 4. Vermont | $12,296 |
| 5. New Hampshire | $14,295 |
| 6. District of Columbia | $14,362 |
| 7. West Virginia | $15,348 |
| 8. Wisconsin | $21,629 |
| 9. Montana | $21,755 |
| 10. Idaho | $21,835 |
Whether you live in a state with the most catfishing scams or in a state where romance scammers steal the most money, it’s always important to protect yourself and your identity online. Here are some precautions you can take to avoid being a victim of a catfishing scheme:
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All About Cookies collected data on victims and perpetrators of confidence fraud/romance scams and social media fraud for every state from the FBI's 2021 Internet Crime Complaint Center annual report. Data included the number of fraud victims and perpetrators in each state, as well as the total amount of money lost by victims and taken by perpetrators.
Data relating to romance scams across different age ranges came from the FTC's Fraud Reports Tableau page and includes data from January 2019 through September 2022. This data includes the number of romance fraud reports and money lost for the following age groups: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, and 80+.
| State | Population | Number of romance scam reports | Reports per 100K | Total amount of money lost to romance scams | Average amount lost per report |
| Alabama | 5,039,877 | 259 | 5.1 | $6,552,331 | $25,299 |
| Alaska | 732,673 | 87 | 11.9 | $3,532,020 | $40,598 |
| Arizona | 7,276,316 | 653 | 9.0 | $18,827,346 | $28,832 |
| Arkansas | 3,025,891 | 153 | 5.1 | $1,220,454 | $7,977 |
| California | 39,237,836 | 3,023 | 7.7 | $183,928,230 | $60,843 |
| Colorado | 5,812,069 | 445 | 7.7 | $24,492,897 | $55,040 |
| Connecticut | 3,605,597 | 178 | 4.9 | $6,340,173 | $35,619 |
| Delaware | 1,003,384 | 62 | 6.2 | $2,568,048 | $41,420 |
| District of Columbia | 670,050 | 60 | 9.0 | $861,723 | $14,362 |
| Florida | 21,781,128 | 1,738 | 8.0 | $70,483,554 | $40,554 |
| Georgia | 10,799,566 | 500 | 4.6 | $13,771,534 | $27,543 |
| Hawaii | 1,441,553 | 91 | 6.3 | $4,193,665 | $46,084 |
| Idaho | 1,900,923 | 91 | 4.8 | $1,986,957 | $21,835 |
| Illinois | 12,671,469 | 591 | 4.7 | $19,785,612 | $33,478 |
| Indiana | 6,805,985 | 369 | 5.4 | $8,942,073 | $24,233 |
| Iowa | 3,193,079 | 142 | 4.4 | $3,522,928 | $24,809 |
| Kansas | 2,934,582 | 147 | 5.0 | $4,487,069 | $30,524 |
| Kentucky | 4,509,394 | 227 | 5.0 | $7,386,818 | $32,541 |
| Louisiana | 4,624,047 | 178 | 3.8 | $10,322,446 | $57,991 |
| Maine | 1,372,247 | 67 | 4.9 | $386,894 | $5,775 |
| Maryland | 6,165,129 | 464 | 7.5 | $20,678,621 | $44,566 |
| Massachusetts | 6,984,723 | 415 | 5.9 | $21,796,694 | $52,522 |
| Michigan | 10,050,811 | 579 | 5.8 | $20,403,018 | $35,238 |
| Minnesota | 5,707,390 | 340 | 6.0 | $11,823,203 | $34,774 |
| Mississippi | 2,949,965 | 127 | 4.3 | $3,219,615 | $25,351 |
| Missouri | 6,168,187 | 372 | 6.0 | $8,852,970 | $23,798 |
| Montana | 1,104,271 | 82 | 7.4 | $1,783,925 | $21,755 |
| Nebraska | 1,963,692 | 115 | 5.9 | $3,315,392 | $28,829 |
| Nevada | 3,143,991 | 352 | 11.2 | $15,095,654 | $42,885 |
| New Hampshire | 1,388,992 | 71 | 5.1 | $1,014,970 | $14,295 |
| New Jersey | 9,267,130 | 517 | 5.6 | $30,142,767 | $58,303 |
| New Mexico | 2,115,877 | 171 | 8.1 | $1,978,627 | $11,571 |
| New York | 19,835,913 | 1,168 | 5.9 | $57,577,392 | $49,296 |
| North Carolina | 10,551,162 | 539 | 5.1 | $17,352,320 | $32,194 |
| North Dakota | 774,948 | 58 | 7.5 | $12,138,780 | $209,289 |
| Ohio | 11,780,017 | 553 | 4.7 | $14,964,916 | $27,061 |
| Oklahoma | 3,986,639 | 239 | 6.0 | $5,656,884 | $23,669 |
| Oregon | 4,246,155 | 361 | 8.5 | $12,077,829 | $33,457 |
| Pennsylvania | 12,964,056 | 723 | 5.6 | $30,055,491 | $41,571 |
| Rhode Island | 1,095,610 | 72 | 6.6 | $4,519,628 | $62,773 |
| South Carolina | 5,190,705 | 294 | 5.7 | $6,821,160 | $23,201 |
| South Dakota | 895,376 | 52 | 5.8 | $1,282,228 | $24,658 |
| Tennessee | 6,975,218 | 366 | 5.2 | $14,569,398 | $39,807 |
| Texas | 29,527,941 | 1,752 | 5.9 | $65,430,519 | $37,346 |
| Utah | 3,322,389 | 256 | 7.7 | $7,710,025 | $30,117 |
| Vermont | 645,570 | 43 | 6.7 | $528,709 | $12,296 |
| Virginia | 8,642,274 | 613 | 7.1 | $22,143,549 | $36,123 |
| Washington | 7,738,692 | 657 | 8.5 | $31,958,914 | $48,644 |
| West Virginia | 1,782,959 | 95 | 5.3 | $1,458,019 | $15,348 |
| Wisconsin | 5,895,908 | 348 | 5.9 | $7,526,797 | $21,629 |
| Wyoming | 578,803 | 55 | 9.5 | $1,713,763 | $31,159 |
| Entire country | 331,878,159 | 20,910 | 6.3 | $849,184,549 | $40,611 |
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