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More than 40 per cent of Australians who use online dating apps have been targeted by scammers, with romance scams being the most common.
New research has revealed that scammers are taking advantage of Australians looking for love via online dating apps, with 40 per cent of Australian users reporting being targeted by some form of dating scam.
The most common of these, making up 47 per cent of all schemes, are romance scams. Scammers create entire false identities to manipulate their victims into falling in love and then demand money or personal information.
Catfishing, another form of false identity scam, accounts for 29 per cent of dating scams, while fake dating sites are responsible for another 26 per cent.
Visa and immigration scams are next, followed by sugar daddy/baby scams, where victims actively looking for a wealthy partner are tricked into sharing personal information or bank account details.
The numbers come from the just released 2025 Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report – Online Dating, which explores Aussie online dating habits and the risks they entail. Australians who use such apps spend 7.93 hours per week looking for love, and the scammers are on the prowl.
“The digital dating world has opened doors to endless possibilities for connection, but it has also created opportunities for scammers to exploit emotions and trust. With financial losses averaging nearly $12,000 per victim, the stakes have never been higher for Australians seeking love online,” Mark Gorrie, managing director APAC for Norton, said in a statement.
“Romance scams remain one of the most common and devastating forms of online fraud, and these figures highlight the serious financial and emotional toll of online dating scams. These scams prey on people’s emotions, making it all the more important to stay alert and question anything that feels off.
“As Australians invest more in their search for love, it’s crucial they take steps to protect themselves from increasingly sophisticated scams. That is why we are committed to educating people on cyber safety vigilance.”
One interesting finding of Norton’s report is that Australians are embracing AI to help their online dating efforts.
Fifty-five per cent of online daters are using AI to help generate pick-up lines or start conversations, create dating profiles, or enhance photos. But AI is also helping scammers in much the same way.
“AI as a dating coach can seem harmless, even fun, but it’s also enabling scammers to be more convincing than ever before,” Gorrie said.
“From polished fake profiles to hyper-personalised messages, AI is changing the game – and making it harder for users to detect red flags. [This] is why education around cyber safety can help people spot red flags and avoid falling victim to increasingly sophisticated scams.”
Norton recommends that anyone using online dating apps research their potential matches, request a phone or video call to confirm a match’s identity, and avoid clicking on potentially malicious links.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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