Florida ranked among top 10 most 'catfished' states, study finds

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Independent broker review site BrokerChooser released a study analyzing fraud reports to find which states were most likely to fall victim to catfishing romance scams, and Florida sure did make the cut.

Florida ranked No. 8 out of all 50 states for being most catfished, with 78 romance scam reports per million people, the report says. The total amount of money lost to fake lovers in 2025 hit more than $44 million — that’s the most lost to scams out of the top 15 most catfished states.

The average Florida victim lost $25,707 to scammers, the report states. It also notes the Baby Boomer generation gets hit the hardest, with victims aged 60 to 79 accounting for about $174.5 million lost. The next hardest-hit demographic is those aged 20 to 29.

The top states found to be vulnerable to catfishing are Arizona, Alaska and Wyoming, each hitting more than 100 scams reported per million people.

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