Romance investment fraud combines a personal relationship with an investment request. Contact may begin on a dating app, social network or messaging service. A person can spend time building trust before encouraging you to use a platform or send money. Being affected is not a measure of intelligence or care; these approaches are designed to influence trust and decision-making.
How the approach may develop
The person may say they cannot meet, move the conversation to a private channel, or describe a time-sensitive financial need. They might introduce an investment opportunity, show apparent profits in an app, or offer to guide you through buying crypto. The platform or balance may be controlled by the people making the offer rather than connected to a genuine investment.
Sometimes the request starts as a relationship and later becomes a business or investment proposal. The label is less important than the pattern: someone asks you to send value to an account or wallet they control, or to pay a further fee before funds can be withdrawn.
Warning signs to consider
- Someone you have not met in person asks for money, crypto, gift cards or financial details.
- A new relationship quickly turns into investment advice or an invitation to use a particular platform.
- The person discourages you from discussing the offer with people you trust.
- The platform shows apparent gains but asks for additional deposits or fees when you try to withdraw.
- You are asked to keep the relationship or investment secret.
- The person asks for one-time codes, account access or your wallet recovery phrase.
These signs do not prove who is behind a profile. Images and names can be copied, and a chat record alone may not identify the person using an account.
If you have sent money
Pause further payments and contact the bank, card provider, exchange or payment service involved using contact details you find independently. Explain that you believe you were deceived and ask what protection may be available. Secure any account whose details or codes you shared, starting with your email and financial accounts.
Preserve the profile URL, account name, messages, images, payment details, wallet addresses and dates. You may wish to report the profile to the platform where you met. Consider speaking with someone you trust; you do not need to investigate or confront the other person yourself.
What to keep in mind
A profile, photo, claimed occupation or apparent investment balance is not proof of a person’s identity or of a real investment. An investigation may review available communications, public information and payment records, while clearly separating reported claims from independently supported findings.
If the offer involved a crypto platform, see Crypto fraud. If someone later offers paid help to recover the money, read Recovery scams.
Further reading
- What to know about romance scams — US Federal Trade Commission consumer guidance.
- What to know about cryptocurrency and scams — US Federal Trade Commission guidance about crypto payment and investment scams.