Dating • Safety

Romance Scam Checker: 9 Questions Built on FTC Red Flags

A private, nine-question gut-check built from the exact red flags the FTC and FBI publish. It runs entirely in your browser — nothing you tap is stored, sent, or tracked. It is not a diagnosis and it can't tell you for certain that a person is a scammer; what it does is show you, honestly, how closely your situation matches the pattern federal investigators describe — and what to do next.

3 min read

This is the standalone version of the risk check from our full report on romance scams in 2026 — the same nine questions, on their own page, with the red-flag mapping and the reporting steps alongside them. If you want the data behind it — the scale of the problem, how the con is run, and the fund-recovery paths in depth — read the full piece. If you just want to run your own situation against the flags, do that first, right here.

One thing up front, because it matters: this is not a diagnosis. No checklist can prove that someone is a scammer, and a low score is not a clean bill of health. What the check gives you is an honest read on how closely what you're experiencing matches the documented pattern — and, either way, the single rule that stops every version of this.

How the nine questions map to the red flags

The questions aren't ours in spirit — they're a structured version of the red flags the FTC and FBI have published for years. Here's what each group is really testing.

How it started, how it feels (the first six). These are the behavioural tells federal investigators describe, and they stack: you met online and can never quite meet in person or on live video; the photos look polished but a real-time call never happens; the conversation moved off the dating app to WhatsApp, Telegram, or text unusually fast; it turned intensely romantic within days; you've been nudged to keep it secret; and the story keeps shifting around a fresh crisis. None of these proves a scam alone — but the FTC lists the "can never meet, always a reason" pattern (an overseas military posting, an offshore oil rig) as a signature tell^[1]. The polished-photo-but-never-live problem is now often an AI one: the FBI's 2025 report says scammers are "creating fake profiles and scripts produced by AI chat generators," which is exactly why a face can look flawless and still never appear on video^[2]. It's the same synthetic-persona problem we cover in are AI girlfriends safe, pointed at your wallet instead of your loneliness.

The ask (the last three — the bright line). These are different in kind, which is why any single "yes" reads High on its own: they've asked for money, a wire, or gift-card numbers; they've offered to help you "invest," especially in crypto; or a valuable package is "stuck" behind a fee. The FTC's rule cuts through all of it — anyone you met online who asks you to pay by cryptocurrency, gift card, or wire transfer is a scammer^[1]. There's no version of that request that turns out fine.

What each risk tier means — and what to do

The check sorts your answers into one of three reads, and the guidance under each is deliberate.

• High risk appears when you flag any single money/crypto/gift-card ask, or when four or more behavioural signs stack. Treat it as a scam: send nothing, cut contact, screenshot the profile and chats before they vanish, and report it.
• Concerning means several early-stage signs are present but the money ask hasn't arrived. It doesn't prove a scam — it's the runway one usually takes. Draw the line before money ever enters the conversation: reverse-image-search the photos and ask for a live video call, which a real person can do and a scammer will stall on.
• Low concern means nothing you flagged is a definitive sign. Keep the one rule that stops every version of this — no one you've only met online should ever get your money, your crypto, or your gift-card codes — and trust the instinct if something still feels off.

If you've already sent money, speed decides whether you get it back. Contact your bank or the payment app immediately and ask them to recall the transfer, then file with the FBI. Its rapid-freeze process clawed back $679 million in 2025 — but only on wire and bank transfers caught fast, not on cryptocurrency, which is effectively gone once it leaves your wallet^[2]. Report every case, regardless of the amount, to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI at ic3.gov.

Your privacy — in plain language

The checker runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you tap is saved, sent, or shared: there's no server behind it, no storage, and no tracking. Your answers never leave the device you're reading this on, and closing the page erases them. That's a deliberate design choice on a page about people being exploited — a tool that asks you to describe a private, painful situation has no business keeping a copy of it.