News summary produced by Claude AI
Romance scams have surged across the United States, with more than 49,000 victims reporting combined losses of $1.3 billion in the previous year, marking at least a 14 percent increase from the year before. Experts attribute the rise partly to prolonged social isolation following COVID-19 lockdowns, which left many people struggling with acute loneliness and seeking connection.
Jean Booth’s experience illustrates how these scams operate with psychological precision. In January 2025, the 43-year-old recently divorced woman connected with someone claiming to be Daniel Rodriguez Fanelli, a military paratrooper with a young daughter named Trixie. Over eight months, the person she knew as Donnie built an emotionally intimate relationship through frequent messaging, expressing affection and painting a picture of a shared future. Despite occasional doubts and warnings from friends and family, Booth continued communicating with and financially supporting the individual, eventually transferring over $90,000 through multiple requests citing various emergencies related to military deployment, childcare, home repairs, and travel obstacles.
Booth’s vulnerability stemmed from her lifelong belief in human goodness and honesty, which had sustained her through a difficult upbringing and a 24-year marriage dissolution. Psychologists note that romance scams exploit fundamental human needs for connection and belonging, particularly among those experiencing loneliness. Victims often identify red flags but suppress their suspicions, choosing hope over logic. In Booth’s case, she even discovered the photographs of Donnie were stolen from another person’s social media, yet continued the relationship for months afterward.
The situation escalated when Booth discovered another victim, Elizabeth, who had also been supporting the same scammer while believing him to be her boyfriend. Elizabeth had lost approximately $14,000 and was later targeted by an additional fraud scheme. After this meeting, Booth finally ended contact with Donnie in August when he again failed to appear in person, though the relationship had already become dormant.
Experts working with romance scam victims describe the aftermath as deeply traumatic. Victims experience profound shame, guilt, and social stigma, which compounds the loneliness that made them vulnerable initially. Some victims consider suicide. Booth entered a support group and reported her case to local authorities. Notably, months later she reconnected with another individual online who confessed to being a scammer from Nigeria, raising questions about her continued susceptibility to such schemes.