Romance scams cost Florida residents millions private investigator tells how to protect yourself, check them out. Fraud is broad and is a growing problem across all of Northeast Florida. Romance scams are a small part of a bigger problem. People are receiving phishing texts from fake Apple accounts, fraudulent toll road notices and fake bank alerts. Others are losing money to home-buying scams or having their identities stolen outright. The threats are wide-ranging, and investigators say no one is immune. Detective Dakota McDonald with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office Florida says the pattern is familiar and costly. “These people end up falling further and further, and they just keep shelling out money, one hand over the other,” he said. Many times, he said, the people being scammed never meet the person they are messaging. “Most of the cases, they never met,” he said. When it comes to making arrests, investigators face long odds. McDonald says they are successful around 20% to...