Singles In Illinois Are Way Too Easy To Catfish, Says Shocking New Report

Dating is not easy and it's not getting any easier. People might think it should be easier than 25+ years ago but that's a hard argument. Dating apps were intended to make meeting that special someone, right?

WRONG!

There are some dating success stories out there but I can tell you first hand there are people waiting to scam you on apps like Tinder.

ILLINOIS IS ONE OF THE TOP 'MOST CATFISHED' STATES

A report was released listing the most catfished states in America. I can't say that it's surprising. I don't know how it is for women who use Tinder but it's a lot of garbage for men.

I would put my money on 3 out of 5 profiles being clearly false meaning the person on the other side is a straight-up catfish or they're going to eventually ask for money and offer their "premium snap" or another NSFW pic/vid option.

How Bad Were Illinoisans Catfished In 2021?

After shows like MTV's Catfish and even Tinder Swindler on Netflix, you would think people would be more alert and aware of the signs of being tricked by faux love and affection. This obviously isn't the case and it's only getting worse.

In 2020, of those criminally catfished, love-seekers were duped out of $14 million. In 2021, almost 591 people were duped out of a total of $20 million. This means the average amount of money scammed was $33,478, according to Social Catfish.

ILLINOIS, 13th Most 'Caftished' State In America

The scams reportedly used were the following:

CryptoRom: Scammers gain your trust and convince them to invest in a fake crypto app and steal your money.

How to Avoid: Never invest money with anyone you meet online. If you want to invest in Crypto, use well-known Apps like Crypto.com, Coinbase and PayPal.

Faux Influencers: Scammers are creating more and more fake profiles, stealing pics of successful ‘influencers’ as a "romance tool".

How to Avoid: Do a reverse image search to confirm if the person in the photos goes by the same name as the person who friend requested you on social media.

Gift Card Scams: Money can be traced electronically if sent online, gift cards can not. This means scammers are asking for gift cards in lieu of actual money.

How to Avoid: If your online love interest asks for a gift card, that is a huge red flag and do not send any.

Money Mules: Scammers send you money and ask you to wire it to their family "in trouble" overseas. They claim their bank is having issues. This is a money-laundering scheme.

How to Avoid: Never provide your bank information, or send and accept wire transfers to someone you do not know in real life.

Tik Tok: Yup, even TikTok isn't safe. Young adults and teens lost were duped out of $101 million to romance scams in 2021, an all-time high.

How to Avoid: Teenagers should never send money or give personal information to anyone they have not met in person.  Parents need to talk to their children and vice versa as romance scams now impact every generation in the family.

There are a ton of "catfish" created resources, FAQs, and who to report catfishers to at SocialCatfish.com.