Australia's National Anti-Scam Centre released findings from a Romance Scam Fusion Cell that ran from July to December 2025, bringing together dating platforms, law enforcement, banks, cryptocurrency exchanges and victim support services to coordinate action against romance fraud.

Romance scams caused $28.6 million in reported losses in 2025 and remain in the top three scam types by financial harm. The taskforce referred 377 scam websites, WhatsApp accounts, emails and social media profiles for takedown, and flagged 1,004 suspected scam transactions and 168 cryptocurrency wallet addresses for investigation and blocking.

"Romance scams are deeply personal crimes that can have lasting emotional and financial impacts," said ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe. "By sharing intelligence and working collaboratively across sectors, we are better equipped to identify and respond to scam activity earlier."

The fusion cell developed frontline response guides for bank staff and support workers, piloted a disengagement referral process to connect victims with support, and created an online relationship health check tool, Scamwatch reports.