Across Long Island and the state, internet romance scams are on the rise, according to state Attorney General Letitia James, leaving a trail of broken hearts and empty bank accounts.
A consumer alert from James earlier this month warned New Yorkers looking for love online to beware of “being taken advantage of and victimized by heartless scammers.”
Oceanside resident Connie Rotolo, 71, who handed over $475,000 to someone she met online, believing she had found a new friend, and possibly love, after the death of her husband of 45 years, understands James’ consumer warning all too well.
Four years after transferring the money to the bank account of someone who it turned out, had only had eyes for Rotolo’s money, she is still dealing with the fallout of the scam, financially as well as emotionally.
“I never thought horrible people like that existed,” Rotolo said.
In her June 7 alert, James said not only do scammers like the one who bilked Rotolo out of nearly a half-million dollars exist, but there are more of them — using dating apps and social media to prey on vulnerable victims and convince their targets to make fraudulent investments.
“Sophisticated fraudsters are increasingly using dating apps and social media to trick users into bogus investment schemes,” James said in the online alert. “The personal and sometimes romantic nature of these scams can often leave their victims feeling ashamed and isolated. New Yorkers who fall victim to these frauds should know they are not alone.”
In fact, according to the Federal Trade Commission, romance scams have spiked nationwide. Consumers across the country lost a reported $1.14 billion to romance scams in 2023, with median losses totaling $2,000 per person, according to the FTC. That is a 1,420% increase from the $75 million lost in 2016, the agency said.
In 2020, the FTC reported that online dating scams accounted for $304 million in losses to the lovelorn, an increase officials attributed to loneliness brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Count Rotolo among those who found pandemic-era isolation too much to bear. Her husband died in 2019. Then the pandemic hit. After more than four decades of marriage, Rotolo said, she shuddered at the thought of being alone at home.
So in March 2020, she took a friend up on the suggestion and she join the dating app Zoosk. There, she befriended someone who would later turn out to be a scammer. Using a fake name, the scammer told Rotolo he worked as an engineer and was from Babylon. She shared that they grew closer over a few weeks and he told her “his wife passed away in his arms due to cancer,” Rotolo said. The two chatted online everyday.
About a month into their online friendship, the conversations took and unexpectedly dark turn, according to Rotolo. The engineer told her he was working on a project in the Philippines. He needed large amounts of money fast to pay vendors, otherwise they would kill him, and, the friend said, Rotolo, too.
Rotolo said she told him: “I’ve never given this money out to anybody, but I’m trusting you because I don’t want anything to happen to me.”
She notified the Nassau County police about the threat but never heard from him again. Multiple attempts to contact the person about the money were fruitless, Rotolo said.
Officials in James’s office were not immediately available to comment on Rotolo’s situation or how the attorney general’s office may be able to help.
Across Long Island and the state, internet romance scams are on the rise, according to state Attorney General Letitia James, leaving a trail of broken hearts and empty bank accounts.
A consumer alert from James earlier this month warned New Yorkers looking for love online to beware of “being taken advantage of and victimized by heartless scammers.”
Oceanside resident Connie Rotolo, 71, who handed over $475,000 to someone she met online, believing she had found a new friend, and possibly love, after the death of her husband of 45 years, understands James’ consumer warning all too well.
Four years after transferring the money to the bank account of someone who it turned out, had only had eyes for Rotolo’s money, she is still dealing with the fallout of the scam, financially as well as emotionally.
“I never thought horrible people like that existed,” Rotolo said.
In her June 7 alert, James said not only do scammers like the one who bilked Rotolo out of nearly a half-million dollars exist, but there are more of them — using dating apps and social media to prey on vulnerable victims and convince their targets to make fraudulent investments.
“Sophisticated fraudsters are increasingly using dating apps and social media to trick users into bogus investment schemes,” James said in the online alert. “The personal and sometimes romantic nature of these scams can often leave their victims feeling ashamed and isolated. New Yorkers who fall victim to these frauds should know they are not alone.”
In fact, according to the Federal Trade Commission, romance scams have spiked nationwide. Consumers across the country lost a reported $1.14 billion to romance scams in 2023, with median losses totaling $2,000 per person, according to the FTC. That is a 1,420% increase from the $75 million lost in 2016, the agency said.
In 2020, the FTC reported that online dating scams accounted for $304 million in losses to the lovelorn, an increase officials attributed to loneliness brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Count Rotolo among those who found pandemic-era isolation too much to bear. Her husband died in 2019. Then the pandemic hit. After more than four decades of marriage, Rotolo said, she shuddered at the thought of being alone at home.
So in March 2020, she took a friend up on the suggestion and she join the dating app Zoosk. There, she befriended someone who would later turn out to be a scammer. Using a fake name, the scammer told Rotolo he worked as an engineer and was from Babylon. She shared that they grew closer over a few weeks and he told her “his wife passed away in his arms due to cancer,” Rotolo said. The two chatted online everyday.
About a month into their online friendship, the conversations took and unexpectedly dark turn, according to Rotolo. The engineer told her he was working on a project in the Philippines. He needed large amounts of money fast to pay vendors, otherwise they would kill him, and, the friend said, Rotolo, too.
Rotolo said she told him: “I’ve never given this money out to anybody, but I’m trusting you because I don’t want anything to happen to me.”
She notified the Nassau County police about the threat but never heard from him again. Multiple attempts to contact the person about the money were fruitless, Rotolo said.
Officials in James’s office were not immediately available to comment on Rotolo’s situation or how the attorney general’s office may be able to help.
