According to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – romance scammers made off with a total of $139 million in cryptocurrency last year, five times more than the amount stolen in 2020.

A romance scam is a type of scamming – whereas a scammer adopts a fake online identity (catfishing) to gain the victims affection and trust. The scammer then uses the illusion of a romantic or close relationship to manipulate and/or steal from the victim.

While the most money was lost through crypto scams, easily purchased gift cards were the most commonly used payment method to carry out scams — 28 percent of victims paid their “lover” with one. A total of $36 million was lost to gift card-related romance scams, according to FTC.