Love search may seem exciting and full of new expectations, but mail order bride scams can destroy your hopes and affect your experience badly. Globally, financial losses to fraudsters made around $1.03 trillion in 2024. Unfortunately, it became easier to cheat people with the rise of AI, as it’s used to create fake photos, perfect profiles, and craft even more persuasive messages.

To help you have a safe online dating journey, we’ll explain are mail order brides a scam, what the most common red flags are, and how to avoid fraud.

The main types of mail order bride scams

Let’s make it clear: real mail order brides aren’t romance scammers, but you must be extremely careful online. Here are the most common types of scams:

Financial fraud

In one case, a woman requests funds for various purposes (help for a sick relative, an Internet bill, medicines, or tickets to come to you). In another, Internet dating scams may expose you to criminal liability. A fraudster can ask you to receive a transfer and send it to the necessary banking account, trying to make you a money mule. It’s related to money laundering.

Catfishing

It’s one of the most typical mail-order brides scams focused on stealing someone’s data. A catfisher creates a fake profile, often using stolen pics or even information. They may make you believe you have a romantic connection, and get your personal details or money from you more easily.

Love bombing

A fraudster will start showing intense interest in you, showering you with compliments and romantic confessions. It’s not hard to recognize these love scams because you’ll understand that everything moves unrealistically fast. At some point, a girl can get offended by something or say that she’s depressed, but a gift from you can change the situation. That’s how scammers on dating sites manipulate users’ feelings.

Malware

This mail order bride scam is a way for a fraudster to reach your device with harmful software. A lady can send you a link to her social media profile, blog, or any other website, but instead, you’ll be redirected to a spam or virus page. Also, a scammer can use a spy program to install on your computer or smartphone to find out your personal data and passwords.

Blackmail

Online romance scams can be directed at making a user share their intimate content and then threatening to show it to their family or colleagues. After a period of so desired chemistry, a woman can convince you to undress or act sexually on camera. A fraudster will record it and extort money from you.

Love scamming includes different types, from financial fraud to blackmail, and any of them may affect not only your wallet but also your emotional health.

What red flags can indicate a fraudster at an early stage?

If you know the following red flags, you’ll quickly spot mail order bride scams:

• A poorly looking or an over-the-top profile. It’s better not to trust a person with a faceless account, having just a few details. However, you shouldn’t be too optimistic when you meet Jennyfer Lawrense online or a girl who seems so perfect as if she came from your dream.
• Bad grammar and out-of-context messages. It’s how to spot a romance scammer quickly: pay attention to text quality and your conversations. Once messages are full of mistakes, and a woman provides different information each time you chat, it’s a fraudster.
• The necessity to pay for something. Whatever reason your interlocutor has, it’s a lie. This lady won’t buy a ticket to visit you, no matter how attractive it seems. If you doubt about are mail order brides a scam, remember that they don’t ask for money.
• No video call each time you offer. A fraudster will never appear on camera (it can even be a guy, not a lady). This person will always have a reason not to have a video chat with you.
• Immediate bond and intense attention. Quick pacing is among the typical romance scams red flags. Permanent compliments and love confessions at the early stage of communication mean that it’s a fraudster.
• Suggestion to leave a dating site for another app. Such signs of romance scams mean that a fraudster doesn’t want the platform moderators to ban them for suspicious behavior, or they want to reach your personal data.

Weirdly looking profiles, financial topics, video call excuses, and bad text quality can cause you problems.

Mail-order brides scams statistics and financial losses

Mail order bride scams statistics are now impressive, like never before; let’s see some figures:

• According to the GASA survey results, in which 46,000 people worldwide participated, 7/10 respondents spotted a fraudster in 2025, and 13% encountered them once a day. 
• Over $355 and $419 million were lost by US 60+ year olds to online dating scams in 2023 and 2022, respectively. 
• In 2023, California was leading in the number of romance fraud reports (6,742), followed by Florida (4,371) and Texas (4,269).
• $1.14 billion is the price paid by love seekers who were cheated in 2023, and scams on dating websites are part of it.
• 40% of internet users lost money to romance scams on social media; 24% of fraudsters’ lies are about someone in jail or with a severe disease.

The situation is disturbing, especially concerning 60+ year olds. Once you understand how to avoid romance scams, use this knowledge.

Consider your online safety a priority

Not necessarily that you’ll meet a fraudster when you look for mail order brides, but you have to be a few steps ahead of them. Now, you know how to outsmart a romance scammer: paying attention to their text and profile quality, slowing down an intense chemistry, never sending money to all those sick relatives, etc. Besides, we recommend using trusted dating services to minimize the risk of being cheated.