One rainy afternoon in August, Jean Booth scurried up the stairs of a nondescript Thai restaurant and took out her phone. She bit her lip; no messages. The boyfriend she'd met online, Donnie, was due to arrive at the airport in a matter of hours. Over the next half-hour, Jean checked her phone a few more times, but Donnie didn’t text or call. Jean wouldn’t hear from Donnie until hours later, when he’d tell her he was sorry, and ask her, again, for money. Last year marked a record high for romance scams across the United States. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdowns that fractured communities and frayed the social fabric of society, there are more lonely people than ever.