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No one thinks their online love interest is going to scam them, but scammers are good at what they do. They establish an emotional connection with you so you’re more likely to believe that they’re an expert in cryptocurrency investing, for example. But that online love interest is a scammer. People have lost tens of thousands ― sometimes millions — of dollars to romance scammers.

This all starts with someone contacting you — seemingly at random — on social media. But they’ve done their homework, checking out your profile and other information on the platform. That helps them say the right things to build a relationship…and before you know it, your new friend is talking money. They want to help you invest your money in the crypto markets, or they say they can teach you how to do it. You might think they have your financial well-being in mind, but they don’t. They only care about their own financial well-being.

No matter what they say, if someone you meet online says they want to help you invest in cryptocurrency, it’s an investment scam. Know this:

  • Scammers promise big profits. They might say they’ve made money this way before and that you will too, but it’s a lie. No one can guarantee profits in any investment.
  • Scammers say there’s no risk. But all investments have risks, including investments in the crypto markets.
  • Scammers say they can help you learn to invest. They’ll say they can teach you investment tricks, but they’re really leading you to a scam investment opportunity. You will lose the money you “invest.”
  • Scammers tell you how to send the money. Scammers want your money quickly, so they’ll steer you to gift cards, payment apps like Apple Pay, CashApp, PayPal, and Zelle, money wiring companies, or even cryptocurrency. But only scammers insist you send money this way.  

If you think someone you met on social media is a scammer, cut off contact. Tell the social media platform, and then tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Share this post in your socials to alert your followers of this scam.

Topics
Money-Making Opportunities and Investments
Scams
Money-Making Opportunity Scams
Avoiding and Reporting Scams
Romance Scams

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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
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  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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Linda E. Polinski
June 10, 2024

I met a man online who turned out to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder. He brainwashed me into falling in love with him, and I sent him money and gifts for 20 months. He was not the kind of Romance Scammer you are referring to here, but a different type of Love Scammer.
Thank you for warning people about these types of Online Scammers. We all need to learn everything we can, in order to protect ourselves!!

ALBERTO M. ARTEAGA
June 10, 2024

Thank You for this information

Karina
June 10, 2024

Finally a reliable source to show Grams if she ever joins online dating🙃

Patricia Gerner
June 10, 2024

Thank you ❤️

Tri tran
June 11, 2024

Why nobody put ads about scsmnrts ahead if their action . That helps if ftc fbi interpol pits out warning daily online before somebody getvl scamed its too late.

Randy Smith
June 11, 2024

I tell everyone, “If it sounds too good to be true, it is a scam”.

Beware all they want is your money. You worked hard for it, don’t give it away unless YOU want to.

Janet
June 12, 2024

This happened to a friend of mine. Before I heard about his "friend" she had convinced him to "invest" his entire savings. He introduced (on Whatsapp) her to me. She tried to get me to participate in her "passive income" gold buy and sell scam.
I finally got through to my friend by using an app that searches out photos on the dark web. This "nice lady" was using different names, had photos of her in some immodest poses and worse.
When he tried to get some of his money back the fake cryptocurrency app wanted him to pay the "taxes" to the app before it would release his money. His nice lady friend became hostile when he asked her for help.
He's now broke and broken hearted.

Murali
June 12, 2024

I am certain neither the Govt nor any Federal/State Agency has any interest in the Financial Well Being of its Citizens. Why do I say this? If the intent is clear then I would expect the least any serious Govt should do is to inform of the Public of the dirty sites milking its Citizens. Lo and behold I have searched the internet and also some AI chat sites including the Financial watchdogs whose duty is to alert of financial irregularities, but no where did I see any list of problem sites. This can only happen intentionally not otherwise. There is a nexus between all these agencies to gang up against the Citizens leaving them with no aid to recourse.
We are in a dire state of Financial manipulations. Too many agencies are conniving together to strip us all of what little we make and distribute it for all kinds of inexplicable deeds. Sad!

Laura
June 17, 2024

In reply to by Murali

Your argument is not logical. The government agencies are not conniving together. How could they possibly have a list of every site? They are illegal sites and changing all the time. These government agencies are obviously there to help and are do so by posting information about warning signs and how to protect yourself all over the place and how to get help. Your conspiracy theories are only hurting yourself.

Jerry Hoffman
June 17, 2024

I was contacted through Facebook. The woman claimed an interest inOUR future. And that she can teach me how to do short term cryptocurrency trading. Started with a few thousand dollars. Then pressured to add more money to trading account to get bigger profits. At end of trading cycle MetaMask said I needed to pay 162K in short term capital gains tax TO THEM. The funds are frozen including the 204K that I put into the trade account.

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