Australians are being warned to watch out for dating and romance scams on the day of love as new data reveals an eye-watering amount of money was reported lost last year. More than 3400 reports of dating and romance scams were received in 2021, equating to a loss of about $56m – a 44 percent increase on the 2020 figure. More than half of all reports made to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) were from romance scams on social media or dating apps. But the consumer law regulator believes scam losses are likely to be much higher than what was recorded to Scamwatch, with only about 13 percent of all scam victims reporting the incident. More than 3400 reports of dating and romance scams were received in 2021. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images Those aged 55 years and over made up almost 50 percent of the losses, equating to about $25m, and women reported higher losses than men. NSW recorded the biggest deficit of about $15m, with 1055 reports of romance scams made over t