And we were just talking about this...  

 
"More than 23,000 complaints relating to such scams were reported to the FBI in 2020, with losses totaling about $605 million."  

 
Full article linked.  But you already know the story. No doubt that a fair share of those 23k complaints, and sizable amount that will never be reported, occurred on sugar sites.  

 
Life is good (but lets be careful out there!)  

 
The Cat

For those without a calculator:
605,000,000 / 23,000 = $26,304 per scam, on average.  I'd have guessed that the median would be lower, maybe $5,000 - $10,000.

I too would have suggested a much lower number of $/scam. But maybe, as is the case with drug busts, LE likes to inflate the street value of the problem in order to make their work appear more important..  But whatever the real numbers may be, scammers are real, so be careful out there!

I think it's more likely that smaller cases just don't get reported, and if they do, they don't get investigated.  

 
As with any small dollar crime, LE can't or wont prioritize resources to these, and depending on the circumstances  (like property theft or home burglary),  they just give the victim a police report number and tell them to call their insurance company. As my family attorney told me when a scammer had embezzled over $40k from  a family member,  LE and DA's won't bother with cases under $250k. It's too much work and won't generate the news headlines they need to ensure next years' budget gets funded.  

 
And I've never seen an insurance policy that will reimburse your if your dick is stupid enough to let a dating site scammer take you for several hundred to several thousand dollars.  

 
Life is good

 
The Cat

I thought I was covered for stupid dick decisions.  Isn't that what Ho-moaners insurance is for?