Investment and romance scams

Check this example →

How it works

1. Contact starts as a wrong-number text, a friendly message, or a dating-app match. It’s patient and warm, sometimes for weeks.
2. The conversation turns to money: a trading method, a mentor, a platform. They show “their” profits.
3. You try a small amount and it grows on screen. A withdrawal even works the first time.
4. You invest more. When you try to withdraw it all, there’s a “tax”, “fee” or “verification deposit”. The balance on screen was never real.

This pattern is often called “pig butchering”: the victim is fattened with trust before the loss.

The tells

• You’ve never met in person, and they won’t do a live video call, or the video seems wrong.
• Guaranteed or risk-free returns. Real investments don’t offer them.
• A platform you can only reach through their link or an app they send you.
• Fees or taxes demanded before you can withdraw.
• Pressure that the opportunity is closing.

What the numbers say

The FTC’s 2025 data put investment scams first by dollars lost: about $7.9 billion reported, out of $15.9 billion in total reported fraud losses.

What to do

• Stop sending money, however much you’ve already put in. Paying the “fee” to get it back is part of the scam.
• Check the firm on your country’s financial regulator’s register. If you can’t find it, treat it as fake.
• Keep screenshots, wallet addresses and transaction records, then report to your national fraud agency and to your bank.
• Be wary of “recovery services” that contact you afterwards. They are often the same people.

Where to report it