Online dating dangers: Arizona ranks among worst states for romance scams and fraud reports

PHOENIX — The dating game can be stressful in the modern era.

Many people turn to dating apps to try and filter out the playing field, but sometimes hidden dangers lurk on those apps and Arizona is one of those places where the dangers appear more frequently.

In a recent study by the Privacy Journal, Arizona ranked as the fourth most dangerous state in America for dating apps with a high propensity for romance scams, fraud, identity theft and STD reports by users.

The study showed that 14 in every 100,000 users fall victim to a romance scam, which might not seem like much but it is by far the highest in the nation.

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Those using online dating platforms in Arizona should take heed because there are 14 romance scams per 100,000 Arizonans. This puts it firmly in 50th place in the romance scams category. If that wasn’t bad enough, Arizona also has an extremely high rate of fraud reports.

Saving Arizona from an even lower position is its respectable sixth-place ranking in one category: the number of registered sex offenders. Still, the high violent crime and STD rates won’t do much to reassure Arizonans hoping to find “the one” on dating apps.

Best and worst states for online dating

The three states that rank worse than Arizona are Nevada, Alaska and Georgia.

The safest states were all in New England: Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.

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