Beware of Romance Scammers: How They Steal Your Life Savings 💔

Scammers operate everywhere—job recruitment sites, across social media, on dating apps and in your text messages. Arguably the most hurtful and damaging of these scams is romance scams, where the perpetrator spends weeks or months seducing a victim and earning their trust before conning them out of as much money as they can get. While people are getting better at spotting these scams, scammers are constantly advancing, too. So what's it really like when you fall for one? WIRED Senior Editor, Security & Investigations Andrew Couts goes in depth with a real victim of a romance scam and shows us what warning signs to look out for.<br /><br />Director: Efrat Kashai<br />Director of Photography: Brad Wickham<br />Editor: J.Y. Chun; Brady Jackson<br />Host: Andrew Couts<br />Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi<br />Associate Producer: Paul Gulyas<br />Production Manager: Peter Brunette<br />Production Coordinator: Rhyan Lark<br />Camera Operator: Mar Alfonso<br />Gaffer: Niklas Moller<br />Sound Mixer: Sean Paulsen<br />Production Assistant: Malaia Simms<br />Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin<br />Post Production Coordinator: Rachel Kim<br />Supervising Editor: Eduardo Araujo<br />Assistant Editor: Andy Morell<br />Special Thanks: Evelyn