The paper analyzes romance scams as a distinct and serious form of cybercrime, emphasizing that these schemes rely on emotional manipulation rather than purely financial deception. Offenders build fabricated romantic relationships through fake profiles, sustained communication, and deep social-engineering tactics, ultimately persuading victims to send money, disclose sensitive information, or unknowingly participate in crimes such as money laundering. The authors show how technological advances—including AI and deepfakes—have made scam operations increasingly sophisticated and locally tailored. Crucially, they argue that romance scams are not isolated acts but part of large, international criminal infrastructures operating from scam hubs in West Africa and Southeast Asia, sometimes linked to human trafficking and industrialized “fraud factories.” Despite their scope, romance scams remain statistically invisible in Finland because they are not recorded as a separate crime category and victims often refrain from reporting due to shame or self-blame. Drawing on data from the Finnish Nettideittiturva project, the authors identify common victim profiles—young adults isolated during the pandemic, middle-aged individuals in stagnant relationships, and older adults with limited digital literacy—highlighting that victims typically experience acute emotional distress, including shame, grief, and financial hardship. The paper underscores that the psychological loss of the imagined relationship often outweighs the financial loss, aligning romance fraud with dynamics seen in intimate-partner abuse. The authors conclude that Finland’s support systems and public awareness are insufficient and that effective prevention requires recognizing romance scams as a unique crime type, improving victim services, enhancing professional training, and acknowledging the broader societal impacts, including repeat victimization and cross-border criminal networks.