AARP’s ‘Fraud Wars’ Episode 2: Behind Her Boyfriend’s Blue Eyes, a Romance Scammer Lurked

“He was like, ‘I just wanted to give you $60,000 to get you started so you could get to where I am,’ ” she says. Next, he forwarded her a check for $100,000 as a “return.” The check was written by a woman with an address in Vero Beach, Florida. Crenshaw was suspicious. 

“I didn’t think it was real,” she says. “I had only been talking to him for six weeks, and he said it was for our future. My best friend told me I needed to go to the police, just in case. I didn’t want to be charged with money laundering.” 

When she shared her fraud concerns with local police, the officers were dismissive. “They blew me off,” she says.

She then called the bank that issued the check; the bank said the account was legitimate. Crenshaw would later learn that the woman who wrote the check had also sent $100,000 checks to other investors. The Florida woman was being victimized in the same investment scam.

The terrible truth

Crenshaw had thought the money she was investing — and the money from Brandon — was being transferred to her e-wallet.

“There was a code you’d have to use, and that’s why I thought it was legit,” she says. “But once it was in that e-wallet, poof — it was gone. They’re sending me fake statements, and I’m thinking I’m making all this profit. Instead, I was just giving [them] the money.”

Crenshaw thought she’d earned more than $1 million at that point. Best of all, she was finally going to meet Brandon in person.

“The holidays were coming, and he was supposedly purchasing a flight,” she recalls. “His job supposedly took him from New York to California. So now he’s in California, and he’s got to get this project done and is not able to get away. He just wants to get this project done, and we’re gonna be together.” 

Brandon sent Crenshaw real estate information on homes where they might live. Most were listed for anywhere from $1 million to $2 million. He could afford it, it seemed: According to fake statements he sent, his account was now worth almost $3 million. When they started discussing her 60th birthday, he told her she had a blank check to plan a yacht party. She made a $1,000 deposit on the ship and bought a gown. 

Then, two weeks before the party, in June 2024, she heard from the local police who had dismissed her a year earlier. They’d received a call from an anonymous male with “a thick Indian accent” who said Crenshaw was a scam victim. He had called, he told the police, because he felt sorry for her.

Days later, she confronted Brandon about the scam. He denied it and continued to call. She stopped responding. Brandon then inflicted further financial damage, using her personal information to apply for loans and credit cards.

Crenshaw had been victimized by a sophisticated international scam, often known as financial grooming (or pig butchering). A Connecticut state police detective traced one e-wallet to China and another to Nigeria. Her total losses were around $1 million.

What she’s learned

Crenshaw contacted the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline (877-908-3360) and is sharing her experiences to help others avoid similar scams. Among her lessons:

1. Stay on the dating platform. Soon after they met, Brandon wanted to move their communications off the dating site and asked for her email address and phone number. This is a common tactic: Scammers want to escape the platform so their actions won’t be detected. The other problem? Once a scammer has your name, phone number and email address, “they can find your family members, your wages, the property you own,” Crenshaw says. “It’s almost like I helped him in my demise.”
2. Insist on meeting in person. Crenshaw never met Brandon face-to-face or spoke with him by video. It’s a huge red flag when someone repeatedly offers excuses for not being able to meet. 
3. Beware of “love bombing.” Brandon showered her with gifts — an example of what’s known as love bombing , over-the-top, insincere displays of affection — to manipulate her and gain her trust.
4. Talk to a financial adviser. Don’t rely on your own research or the advice of a crypto-pushing paramour. If your new love interest objects to you seeking outside expertise, consider that a warning sign.
5. Do a reverse image search. Crenshaw and a friend conducted a reverse image search to see where Brandon’s photos had appeared online. In her case, it wasn’t helpful — the searches focused on a basketball player named Brandon Miller — but it’s still useful for detecting an image’s source (Brandon’s pics were ultimately traced to someone else’s social media account).  
6. Speak out. After the scam, Crenshaw testified before Connecticut lawmakers in support of House Bill 6990, which concerned the seizure and forfeiture of digital wallets and virtual currency used in criminal activity. The bill was one of two crypto fraud-related pieces of legislation that the governor signed into law in 2025.

Meanwhile, Crenshaw is still recovering. Her savings are gone, and her home is in foreclosure.  

“It’s a short sale, so I’ve got to find somewhere to live,” she says. “The only thing that’s keeping me afloat is that I have a good job and my health. But it is such a mess.”

She remains resilient, however, and determined to help others avoid similar frauds.

“I’m not hiding,” she says. “I am broke but not broken.”