How online romance scams target teenagers — building fake relationships to extract money, personal information, or intimate images — and how to spot and stop them.
Teen Romance Scams is a scam in which someone builds a fake romantic relationship with a young person online in order to extract money, personal information, or intimate images.
A romance scam is when someone builds a fake romantic relationship online to exploit a young person. Unlike a standard scam offering a fake prize, it works by earning trust and affection first — often over weeks — before the manipulation begins. The 'partner' may then ask for money, gift cards, personal or banking details, or intimate images that are later used to blackmail. Teenagers, who are exploring relationships and may be less experienced at spotting manipulation, are increasingly targeted.
A scammer creates an attractive fake profile on social media, a game, or a dating app and starts a warm, intense relationship. They mirror the young person's interests, message constantly, and quickly say how special the connection is. Once trust is built, a 'crisis' appears — a stuck payment, a family emergency, a travel cost — and they ask for money or gift cards. In other cases the goal is intimate images, which then become a tool for sextortion. Requests to keep the relationship secret and to move to private apps are common warning signs.
In your child's behaviour
On their device
Talk about how manipulation feels, not just 'stranger danger'
Explain that scammers use love and attention as tools. A genuine partner won't rush intense declarations, demand secrecy, ask for money or images, or avoid ever video calling.
Set clear money and image rules
Agree that they never send money, gift-card codes, or intimate images to anyone they have only met online — no matter how strong the feelings or how convincing the emergency.
Keep the door open
Make it clear you won't be angry or take their phone away if a relationship turns out to be a scam. Fear of that reaction is exactly what keeps young people from asking for help.
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.
Myth: Romance scams only happen to lonely older adults, not teenagers.
Fact: This is a misconception. The National Crime Agency's CEOP education programme, Thinkuknow, provides online-relationship safety advice specifically for teenagers because the same fake-relationship tactics used on adults reach young people through the social media, games and dating apps they use every day. Being young, or feeling too streetwise to be fooled, offers no real protection against a manipulator who has spent weeks building trust.
Myth: If someone has video-called us, they must be who they say they are.
Fact: A video call is not proof of identity. UK police guidance on romance fraud, including from Avon and Somerset Police, names repeated excuses not to video call or meet in person as a genuine warning sign, and warns that even a video call itself can be faked, with a fraudster sometimes backing up a false identity using forged documents. In documented cases, photos and video shared as proof have turned out to be stolen from someone else's account entirely, including people with no idea their image was being used.
Myth: Sending the money once will satisfy them and the requests will stop.
Fact: In practice, paying rarely ends it. UK police romance-fraud casework, including from Avon and Somerset Police, describes victims who made one payment only to find requests continuing regularly, with fraudsters inventing fresh emergencies and even pressuring people into taking out loans to keep the payments coming. The core message behind the UK's Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign, to stop and question any request for money from someone met online, applies just as much after a first payment as before one.
At this age, many teenagers are active on social media, in games, and on apps with open messaging, where a stranger can build an intense-feeling relationship within days. Talk to them specifically about romance scams rather than only general stranger-danger advice: explain that quick declarations of love, requests for secrecy, and a partner who always has an excuse not to video call are signs of manipulation, not romance. Agree in advance that they will never send money, gift cards or intimate images to someone they have only met online, and let them know they can tell you about any online relationship without fear of losing their phone or being told off.
Older teenagers often have more financial independence, such as their own bank account or part-time earnings, which can make them a more direct target for money requests, and they may also be using mainstream dating apps rather than only social media or games. Encourage them to question any online partner who avoids a genuine, unscheduled video call, and to talk to you or a trusted friend before sending money or images to someone they have not met in person. Make clear that if things have already gone wrong, contacting the bank and reporting to Action Fraud quickly gives the best chance of limiting the damage, and that support is available without judgement.
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