The Scam-Proof Guardian Guide to Romance Scams

The bait looks like love. The hook is always money.

The patient online "partner" who is always just out of reach of a video call. Americans over 60 lost roughly $7.7 billion to online fraud in 2025 — a 59% jump in a single year — and romance scams are among the cruelest. This guide walks through the grooming timeline, the tells, and how to help someone you love who may already be caught in one.

Written for seniors — and the people who love them. Plain language, large print, no tech jargon.

What's inside:

• The grooming timeline: how a stranger becomes "the one" in a matter of weeks
• Why the video call never happens and the emergency always does
• The money asks decoded — gift cards, crypto, "customs fees," and can't-lose investments
• How to spot a stolen photo and a scripted message
• How to talk to a loved one caught in one — without pushing them away
• Step-by-step recovery and how to report it so it counts
• A print-and-laminate emergency card with every number you need