Online romance scams can result in some of the most heartbreaking outcomes imaginable. In the case of Laura Kowal, an Illinois resident, the crime is believed to have caused her tragic death in 2020.
Kowal’s tale is not unique, unfortunately. Romance scams are a rising form of crime in which unsuspecting people are taken in by individuals posing as love interests, only to lose large sums of money in the process.
Her story began with the hope of companionship but ended in despair for herself and members of her family. After meeting a man named “Frank Borg” on Match.com, what appeared to be a budding romance gradually found her entangled in a vicious web of deceit.
Frank manipulated Kowal by using information taken from her online footprints to play on her emotions. He conned her into investing in his fake online trading firm. Her daughter indicated that while other aspects of her life were going well, she was still lonely. “She had all these buckets full in her life, my mom did…But there was this one bucket that was missing, and that was companionship.”
The criminal conned Kowal out of over $1.5 million.
Over months of giddy cellphone calls and in hundreds of florid emails, Frank manipulated her by drawing on publicly-posted details of her life to forge a bond, then induced her to invest with his online trading firm. As her skepticism grew and love waned, he strong-armed her into helping him dip his hands into the accounts of other victims.
The CBS News report noted that “While several local detectives who investigated the final days and hours of her life appear persuaded that she died by suicide, they have stopped short of that formal finding.”
The autopsy said she died by “drowning.”
Mark Solomon, president of the International Association of Financial Crime Investigators, said on his podcast that this scam happens to many people. “We don’t blame a person that’s on the side of the street and gets robbed with a gun pointed at them…We can’t do that to the victims of these frauds and scams either,” he said.
Romantic scams have become an increasingly prevalent crime, presenting a challenge to law enforcement because of the sophistication of the illicit activity. The elaborate methods used to commit these crimes can make it difficult to track down the perpetrators.
In 2023 alone, over 64,000 Americans reported being victims of romance-related scams, with losses amounting to approximately $1.3 billion according to the Federal Trade Commission. Despite these staggering numbers, experts believe these figures are just the tip of the iceberg, with many cases unreported due to the victims’ embarrassment and fear of social stigma.
The human cost is likely more severe than law enforcement can quantify. Senior FBI officials told CBS News a striking number of cases are ending with victims dying by suicide.
“They shouldn’t feel embarrassed or ashamed,” Rao said. “These are sophisticated fraudsters who are preying on the human desire for affection. For connection with another person. And they are manipulating [victims] … using sophisticated technology.”
The criminals have used various measures to find and trick their prey into handing over their hard-earned cash.
Increasingly, scammers are using high-tech tools like bots and artificial intelligence to trick victims into sending them money. Cyber security company Arkose Labs reported between January 2023 and January 2024, dating apps saw a 2087% increase in bot attacks.
A bot is software that operates on the internet and is designed to perform automated tasks faster than humans ever could.
Scammers deploy bots to register new accounts and phony dating profiles at a massive scale. If they succeed, they use the fake profiles to lure unsuspecting singles into developing online relationships and ultimately ask the victims to send money.
In 2022, nearly 70,000 people said they fell victim to romance scams and reported $1.3 billion in losses, according to data released by the Federal Trade Commission.
Research from Barclays shows the age group most likely to fall for romance scams are people between the ages of 51 and 60.
Kevin Gosschalk, founder and CEO of Arkose Labs, explained that “The attackers are motivated by huge amounts of money, and it’s just so lucrative.”
Unfortunately, the scammers are quite adept at what they do. They typically target older individuals who are not as familiar with technology, social media, and other areas of the internet, making them easier marks.
Kowal’s case and the tens of thousands of others like hers highlight the urgency of finding ways to disrupt and apprehend these scammers. However, law enforcement can only do so much. Those with loved ones who might be susceptible to these monsters must make sure they educate them on how these crimes work to help them avoid falling victim.