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PHOENIX - The state of Arizona is one of the worst when it comes to falling for romance scams.
A recent study found that in 2022 alone, vulnerable Arizonans were scammed out of more than $25 million.
When you're lonely, you’re vulnerable. The perfect target for a scammer.
"I just go on Instagram and take down this guy’s picture," former Nigerian romance scammer Chris Maxwell said. "A military guy."
Chris Maxwell who lives in Nigeria scammed women out of money by pretending to be someone else.
"I tell them I’m on deployment, and I don’t have access to my bank account, and I need some money," Maxwell said.
Maxwell says it takes time to gain trust, but eventually, a big payday can come. Like $40,000 from a woman in Kentucky.
Sadly, the story is not unique.
"Here just in the state of Arizona, we receive over 1,000 complaints a month," Mary Gleason, a supervisory special agent with the FBI in Phoenix said.
Gleason says one recent local case stands out.
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Million lost by Arizonans to romance scams, figures show
In 2022 alone, vulnerable Arizonans were scammed out of over $25 million due to romance scams. Experts are providing tips for people to protect themselves as they say the problem will only get worse. FOX 10's Ellen McNamara reports.
"The complaint I was reading, she has been dating the individual for two years and provided over $300,000 to him in that time," Gleason said.
Many romance scams originate in Nigeria or India, and they can be tough to prosecute.
"There are unfortunately, there are more complaints than we have agents who are able to actually work this," Gleason said.
Which is why Gleason says, "I encourage children to check on their parents because they're the most vulnerable population that we have is our elderly."
Now that artificial intelligence is easy to use, Gleason says families must be vigilant.
"They (scammers) really just need a snippet of our voices and so that can be used for voice verifications for banks," Gleason said.
As for Maxwell, he says he doesn’t scam women anymore. He was never prosecuted and now works for the company Social Catfish.
"I just lost my sense of guiltiness," Maxwell said. "I lost my conscience, I felt nothing, I just wanted more and more."
The FBI says it is important to talk with older family members like you would talk to your children about social media. Make sure they are not posting their life story on social media, not accepting friend requests from people they don’t know, and not clicking on or responding to any odd links that are sent in an email or text.
FBI Electronic Tip Form
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center Complaint Form
https://www.ic3.gov/Home/ComplaintChoice
If you have a scam complaint, you can call the FBI at 1-800-CALL FBI (1-800-225-5324) or report it online.