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The state of gay & bi dating safety: the numbers

Online dating is how most gay and bi men meet now — and it's also where scams, catfishing and sextortion concentrate. We pulled together the most reliable public data we could verify. Every figure below links to its primary source. Journalists and writers: you're welcome to cite this page.

Last updated July 2026. Figures reflect the most recent year each agency has published.

The money lost to online romance scams

$2.1 billion
Reported lost to scams that started on social media in 2025 in the U.S. — about eight times the 2020 figure.
Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission ↗
~60%
Of people who reported losing money to a romance scam in 2025 said it began on a social-media platform ($298M reported lost that way).
Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission ↗
$1.14 billion
Reported lost to romance scams in the U.S. in 2023 across 64,003 reports — with a median loss of $2,000, the highest of any imposter scam.
Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission ↗

The FTC measures “social media,” not dating apps specifically, and notes reporting gaps mean these are undercounts. We don't relabel it — we just note that meeting strangers online is the shared risk.

Why gay & bi men are more exposed

~2×
LGB adults are nearly twice as likely as straight adults to have used a dating app or site (55% vs 28%) — more exposure to whoever is on the other end.
Source: Pew Research Center ↗
28%
Of LGBTQ+ adults in a 2026 AARP survey said they or someone they know has experienced a romance scam.
Source: AARP Research ↗
67%
Of LGBTQ+ romance-scam victims in that survey suffered a financial loss — and 36% of those who were defrauded didn't report it to anyone.
Source: AARP Research ↗

Canada & New Zealand (our first markets)

~$58M
Reported lost to romance fraud in Canada in 2024 (Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre) — a top-three fraud category. The CAFC estimates only 5–10% of victims report, so the real total is far higher.
Source: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre ↗
Rising
New Zealand's Netsafe has repeatedly warned about sharp month-over-month jumps in sextortion reports and money lost in 2025–2026.
Source: Netsafe (New Zealand) ↗

One number you'll see that isn't true

You'll find articles claiming “LGBTQ+ people are scammed at twice the rate.” We looked hard, and there's no data behind it: the FTC and other trackers don't record victims' sexual orientation, so that rate can't exist. The real “twice” figures refer to LGBTQ+ elders being twice as likely to live alone — a vulnerability factor, not a scam rate. We won't repeat unverified stats, and neither should you.

Source: AARP ↗

The common thread

Look at every number above and the same thing is underneath it: a person who wasn't who they claimed to be. Fake profiles are free to make, so scammers make millions of them. Throat Theory's answer is structural — every profile is a verified real human, so the fake never reaches you in the first place.

Meet verified real men on Throat Theory →

Sources & what each measures

  1. U.S. Federal Trade Commission — Data Spotlight: Reported losses to social-media scams (2025 data, pub. Apr 2026)
  2. U.S. Federal Trade Commission — “Love stinks — when a scammer is involved” (Consumer Sentinel, 2023 data)
  3. AARP Research — LGBTQ+ adults’ experience with fraud & scams (survey, 2026)
  4. Pew Research Center — The experiences of U.S. online daters (2023)
  5. Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre — Annual reporting & fraud statistics (2024)
  6. Netsafe (New Zealand) — Scam updates & sextortion warnings (2026)
  7. AARP — LGBTQ adults vulnerable to fraud (note: no orientation data collected)

We publish only figures we can trace to a primary source. If an agency updates its data, we update this page. Spot an error? Email hello@throattheory.com.

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