The FCA has warned that younger people approach dating more seriously than they approach investing - and exposing themselves to risks of financial harm as a result.

The watchdog said young people were more likely to have long-term goals in mind when dating than investing.

The regulator wants younger people (18-40 year-olds) to become much more aware of financial ‘red flags’ to avoid being scammed.

It wants to encourage young investors to adopt the same principles to investing as they do to their dating lives, through the latest burst of its ‘InvestSmart’ campaign.

It commissioned research among 1,000 investors aged 18 to 40, who also use online dating platforms, to understand their approach to both.

Nearly half said they were dating to find a potential life partner but their investment outlook tended to be much shorter.

Only 2% of investors said they had a timeframe of more than five years in mind when investing while 14% had no timeframe in mind at all.

The research explored how investors would react to a red flag when dating and investing.

Potential red flags included a date being rude to the waiting staff and arriving late, or difficulty getting invested money out, or an investment opportunity only being available for a short time.

Men were more likely to continue with a date despite spotting a red flag (49% compared with 39% of women), and more likely to push on with an investment after identifying a warning sign (39% versus 28% of women).

Scrolling through a date’s social media was found to be the most popular way to prepare for a date (57%), although a third (33%) of those surveyed said they were able to ignore hype on a potential match’s social profile.

By contrast, only a fifth (20%) of people said they were able to ignore hype about investments.

Lucy Castledine, director, consumer investments at the FCA, said: “Over the past year, we have seen the temptation of high-risk investments increase as consumers balance stretched household finances against the immediate thrill of a quick return. But this may mean investors are ignoring the red flags.

“We want to help investors re-think their approach by spotting the similarities to their own dating lives and applying the same mindset: thinking of the long-term, doing their research and prioritising values that match theirs. We hope this will encourage a more mindful, confident approach to investing in the future.”

Laura Suter, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, said some of the FCA’s results are “pretty worrying”, with many investors thinking of investment as a short-term, get-rich-plan or taking far more risk than they should.

She said: “Social media has a lot to answer for, with many people getting into investing for the first time because they hear about people making loads of money almost overnight. At best these are exaggerations and at worst they are scams."

• Censuswide, commissioned by the FCA, surveyed 1,000 18-40 year olds who have invested, are thinking of investing or have previously invested in one or more high-risk investment products.