We've all seen Catfish with Nev Shulman (if you haven't, I've popped a trailer for the show down below): essentially, the premise is that a young man or woman is concerned that they've fallen in love with someone who is scamming them online...and in Colorado, this actually happens more often than you'd think.

According to a study from SocialCatfish.com, romance scams are becoming more common in the U.S. and are set up like a pyramid scheme: there's the boss, the employee who finds victims, and the people who communicate with the victims and convince them to send them money without ever seeing their face.

Seriously. Watch one episode of Catfish, I beg you. 

Social Catfish says that these scams have unfortunately grown during the coronavirus pandemic, as Coloradans became lonely at home, bored of isolation. After studying data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and the FTC, the website found out that Colorado is the thirteenth most catfished state in the U.S., and our residents have lost $11,802,982 to romance scams. Wow.

Though before you start feeling sorry for Coloradans, just remember that California ranks number one, with their residents cheated out of over $120,000,000.

Looking for love makes someone feel vulnerable, and unfortunately, makes them more easy to trick. Be careful online, and just remember these four simple words that Nev on Catfish originally taught me to ask in the realm of online dating so long ago:

"Can I Facetime you?"

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