Photos Are Shared and Reused Across Scammer Networks

 

Photos Are Shared and Reused Across Scammer Networks

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Photos Are Stolen from Real People

THERE IS NOT ONE SCAMMER TO ONE SET OF PHOTOS. Everyone says ‘the one who uses these’. That is wrong. Hundreds of scammer gangs use the same pictures. Bought, sold or bartered.

Common targets include photos of military personnel, doctors, engineers, models, or everyday attractive individuals. Of course plenty of Celebrity photos around.

These stolen images belong to innocent people who have no involvement in the scam. The real person might be a U.S. Army officer, a European businessman, or someone whose profile was set to public visibility years ago.

Scammers operate in organized groups, particularly in regions like West Africa (e.g., Nigeria, Ghana), where romance scams typically originate. (Crypto scams are often from South Asia but these are different to the usual, everyday romance scam).

These groups share resources, including databases of effective photos, scripts for conversations.

Once a set of photos proves successful it's circulated widely. Scammers might buy or trade these photo packs on underground forums, dark web sites, or private Telegram channels dedicated to fraud tools.

As a result, the same photos can appear in dozens or hundreds of fake profiles across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Tinder, or WhatsApp. Each profile might be controlled by a different scammer or team member, but they're all using the identical image set.

Why It Appears as "One Scammer" But Isn't

Victims often encounter what seems like the "same person" because the profiles use the same photos and similar backstories (e.g., "I'm a widowed oil rig worker" or "I'm deployed overseas"). Different scam team members have different ‘jobs’ to do to make the scam seem real’. Along with photos, ‘Formats’ (e.g. scripts) are used too. Which is why scams are all so similar.

If a profile gets reported and shut down, the scammers simply create new ones with the same photos under different names.Reports from anti-scam organizations like the FTC (U.S. Federal Trade Commission) or Action Fraud (UK) show that a single stolen identity (set of photos) can be linked to thousands of complaints worldwide, implicating numerous fraudsters.

Real-World Examples and Patterns

High-profile cases include photos of celebrities or public figures being misused, celebrity photos are easy to find. Also images of a specific U.S. Marine might be used in scams targeting women in the UK, Australia, and the U.S. simultaneously by different scammers.

In 2025–2026 data from sources like the Better Business Bureau's Scam Tracker, romance scams using recycled photos accounted for over $1 billion in global losses annually, with many victims reporting "repeat encounters" that were actually separate scammers.

Avoid Sending Money: Legitimate people don't ask for funds via wire transfers, gift cards, or crypto early in a relationship.

WE ARE ALWAYS HAPPY TO CHECK OUT PHOTOS FOR YOU TO SEE IF YOU ARE TALKING TO A FAKE.