Romance Scammers Are Wooing Victims Into Bogus Crypto Schemes

How the scam typically works

1. Make contact. First the criminals prowl the web for victims and make contact through text messages, dating apps, websites or direct messages on platforms including Facebook and LinkedIn. Some criminals pretend they are young and attractive and use fake profile photos to support that charade.

2. Spark romance. They may chat with their targets for three or four hours a day to draw them in, starting the day with a wake-up message, “Good morning, sweetheart,” and going from there. This frequent messaging can last a month or much longer.

3. Talk — and take — money. As the digital “relationship” deepens, perpetrators persuade victims to make what is purportedly an investment in cryptocurrency. Photos of luxury cars and vacations are shared to give the illusion of new wealth and spur the victim to act. In some cases, the scammer will feign ignorance of crypto but purport that their “uncle” is a skilled investor and can help them out.

Criminals have various ways of collecting the money: Some instruct victims to go to a crypto ATM to buy digital currency and send it to them. Or they might send victims a link to purchase crypto that actually “puts [the money] in the perpetrator’s digital wallet,” AARP’s Nofziger says.  

4. Demonstrate fake gains. If the victims agree to buy crypto, the (still seemingly adoring) criminals directs them to fabricated websites that appear to show that the investment is paying off big-time.

5. Ask for more money. Sometimes victims are able to make small withdrawals from their accounts at first, but if they try to cash out, they are told they must pay a 25 percent “tax.”

The need to come up with the so-called tax can prompt victims to mortgage their house, deplete 401(k)s, raid their kids’ college funds or borrow from relatives, says West, who calls the crime “hideous.”

“It is a long con that’s really laser-focused on taking every penny from the victim," she adds. “That’s why we’re literally seeing suicides. We are seeing people checking themselves into psychiatric facilities.”

How to protect yourself from this scam

• Beware of people you meet online, particularly if they quickly want to leave the dating website and communicate with you through email or instant messaging. (AARP’s Fraud Resource Center offers more information on avoiding romance scams.)
• Never send money or invest based on the advice of someone you have met solely online.
• Never disclose anything about your financial status to people you don’t know.
• Don’t provide your banking information, Social Security number, copies of IDs (including passport) or other sensitive information to anyone online or on a site that you do not know is legitimate.
• Be wary of anyone who claims to have exclusive investment opportunities with guaranteed profits. They’ll also typically urge you to act fast.   

More Resources

• File a police report. If you experience a scam, the documentation may be of value if there is some means of recouping your loss.
• File reports with the federal government. The FTC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center use fraud reports to target their investigations; the more information they have, the better they can identify patterns, link cases and ultimately catch the criminals. Contact the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI at IC3.gov.  
• To learn more about crypto, check out the FTC’s guidance at ftc.gov/cryptocurrency.
• To hear about a Cape Cod boat captain's experience with a crypto-romance scam, listen to this episode of AARP's The Perfect Scam.