How to spot a crypto romance scam before you send money

In a crypto romance scam, the scammer may let your first small withdrawal go through. That is the bait: money that comes back makes the bigger deposit feel safe.

Short answer: A crypto romance scam, which the scammers themselves call pig butchering, starts as a friendship or romance on a dating app, social media or a "wrong number" text, then turns into an investment pitch. The match steers you to a trading site or app where your balance grows and a small withdrawal works. When you try to take out more, you are told to pay fees or taxes first, and the money doesn't come back. Never invest on the advice of someone you've only met online, and never pay to withdraw your own money.

In a September 2024 joint investor alert, the SEC, the CFTC, FINRA and NASAA call it a relationship investment scam.

How a crypto romance scam unfolds

US agency alerts describe the same steps.

1. First contact. A dating app match, a social media message, or a text that looks like a wrong number or an old friend. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) named dating apps in a March 2023 alert.
2. Weeks of trust. Friendly daily messages about anything but money, often on a private messaging app. A CFTC advisory says this grooming "can take several weeks before the crypto-confidence fraud occurs."
3. The pitch. They say trading crypto or currencies made them rich, sometimes thanks to tips from an uncle or other insider, and point you to one website or app.
4. The fake platform. You deposit a small amount. The balance climbs, and a small withdrawal goes through. In a September 2023 alert, FinCEN says the scammer may allow it "to further build the victim’s confidence".
5. The lock-out. When you try to take out a larger sum, you are told to pay a fee, a tax or a deposit first. Then the person stops answering.

Signs to stop at

Any one of these is a reason to stop.

• A match you met online brings up crypto, trading or an investment opportunity.
• You text every day, but they never meet you in person or on a video call.
• They want to move the chat to an encrypted messaging app.
• They recommend one trading site, often one that only takes crypto.
• They ask you to limit contact with your family and financial advisers.
• They set a deadline: invest now or miss out.
• You are asked to pay a fee or a tax before you can withdraw.

General warning signs are in signs of a romance scammer and love bombing, and Tinder's own advice on this pitch is in Tinder scams.

What the turn to money sounds like

The pivot comes "after days, weeks or even months," FINRA wrote in May 2025, "often asking whether you have an investment or crypto asset account." A CFTC advisory says the match claims to be wealthy from crypto or currency trading, sometimes from "inside information from an uncle or other insider."

An FTC alert from June 2024 lists the lines to listen for:

• "Scammers promise big profits."
• "Scammers say there’s no risk."
• "Scammers say they can help you learn to invest."

The CFTC's Romance Fraud Center describes what happens when you push back: "If you mention withdrawing money, the person tries to convince you it would be a big mistake or gets angry." The FTC's cryptocurrency page gives the rule for a dating app: when someone you meet there "offers you investment advice, know this: that’s a scammer."

The pay-to-withdraw trap

The September 2024 investor alert lists the tools that keep you paying:

• Fake gains. Fake screenshots, or an online account that shows profits that don't exist.
• Early withdrawals that work. The alert's heading warns: "Don’t Gain a False Sense of Comfort By Being Able to Make Early Withdrawals".
• Fake loans. They pretend to lend you money to trade, then say you must repay it before you can withdraw.

IC3 is blunt in a March 2023 alert: "Victims are unable to get their money back, even if they pay the imposed fees or taxes."

In a June 15, 2026 alert, IC3 described a cash-courier version: when banks block transfers, scammers tell victims in-person cash pickups are needed to keep investing or to withdraw. The cash shows up as deposits in the fake wallet, and the loop starts over with new taxes and penalties. Never hand cash to a courier for an investment.

Lena and Marco are invented for this example. After weeks of good-morning texts on WhatsApp, Marco says his aunt works at a trading firm and sends Lena a link. Her small deposit grows, and a small withdrawal reaches her bank. Then a bigger withdrawal is frozen until she pays a "tax", and Marco says she'll lose everything if she waits. The tax is the moment to stop.

Check the platform before you send anything

A failed check is a reason to stop, and a passed one proves little. The CFTC's registration page says: "While registration and a clean disciplinary record won’t protect you from fraud, most scams involve unregistered entities, people, and products."

1. Check how old the website is. A CFTC advisory says to check the trading website you're sent "to see how long it has been registered" at lookup.icann.org. The CFTC's Romance Fraud Center says to look up the site's domain registration "to see if its age matches its claims."
2. Check the platform's registration. The CFTC's Check Registration page (undated, checked October 2026) says crypto spot trading companies count as money services businesses and must register with FinCEN, and many states also require registration. Search FinCEN's MSB Registrant Search, and the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System for your state. Registration is not approval: "FinCEN does not approve or endorse any business that has registered as an MSB." This is general information, not legal advice, and state rules differ.
3. Check the person giving advice. A name search on Investor.gov shows whether someone is licensed with the SEC, a state or FINRA, and may send you on to FINRA BrokerCheck. "Unlicensed, unregistered persons commit much of the investment fraud in the United States," Investor.gov says. For futures or forex, use cftc.gov/check.
4. Search more than the name. In a June 2026 alert, IC3 says to search the web address, details on the site and screenshots of the app.
5. Don't rely on the app store. "Just because an app is available on a well-known app store doesn’t mean that the app itself, or the activities conducted within it, are legitimate," Investor.gov says.
6. Ask how you get money out. One of FINRA's questions: "How can you withdraw funds if desired or needed?"

The CFTC also suggests a reverse image search of the match's photos.

How much people lost in 2025

These figures count only what people reported. IC3 and the FTC collect different reports, so don't add their totals together.

• IC3, 2025. "Cryptocurrency investment fraud was the highest source of financial losses to Americans in 2025 with $7.2 billion reported in losses," according to the IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report, published in April 2026. The same report counts 61,559 complaints, a 48% rise in complaints and a 25% rise in losses from 2024.
• Older adults. People 60 and over filed 13,685 crypto investment fraud complaints in 2025, the same report says, and reported the largest losses of any age group.
• Romance with a crypto link. IC3 counted 5,925 confidence and romance complaints in 2025 that involved crypto, with $394.8 million in losses. IC3 doesn't say how a romance that turns into investing is counted, so this is not the full picture.
• FTC, 2025. In March 2026 testimony to Congress, the FTC said investment scams were the top fraud by reported losses in 2025, at over $7.9 billion, and that crypto was the second costliest way people paid, after bank payments.
• Romance overall. The FTC said in May 2026 that reported romance scam losses rose 22% in 2025.

Who runs these scams

IC3's 2025 report says these scams are "largely perpetrated by organized criminal enterprises based in Southeast Asia using victims of human trafficking as forced labor to run the scam operations." FinCEN notes that many people sending the messages are likely trafficking victims themselves.

On October 14, 2025, the Department of Justice charged the Cambodian chairman of Prince Group with running forced-labor scam compounds, and filed to forfeit about 127,271 bitcoin, worth about $15 billion as of October 2025. The charges are allegations. By April 2026, the DOJ said a new Scam Center Strike Force had seized 503 fake investment websites and restrained more than $700 million in cryptocurrency.

Already sent money? What to do now

1. Stop sending money, including any fee or tax to withdraw. The FBI says to stop and report to IC3 as soon as possible.
2. Keep the messages. Screenshot the profile, the chat, the website address, wallet addresses and transaction details before you block anyone.
3. Report the profile to the dating app.
4. Call your bank, and tell the crypto exchange you used to send the money.
5. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov. If you're 60 or older and need help filing, IC3 points to the DOJ Elder Justice Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).
6. If you are in danger, call 911.

IC3's cryptocurrency page says crypto transactions can't be reversed. The CFTC says: "Recovering money lost to fraud is rare and more difficult if dollars are first converted to bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), or other crypto assets." Fast reporting "can also help support the recovery of lost funds," the FBI says. What to put in each report is in how to report a romance scammer.

The FBI may reach you first. Its Operation Level Up notified 8,103 victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud from January 2024 to December 2025, and 77% did not know they were being scammed, according to the FBI. A real FBI email comes from an fbi.gov address, and the FBI says not to act until an agent has confirmed who they are with you.

Watch for a recovery scam

A second scam often follows the first. Investor.gov says the scammer may come back "pretending to be someone else, such as a representative from a government regulator, law firm, or some other entity that has supposedly recovered your funds." The CFTC adds: "Many times, the same gang or a different one pulls off both the original and recovery scams." IC3 said in August 2025 that no law firms are officially authorized partners of US government agencies. Don't pay anyone who promises to get your money back.

A third approach is a job offer to open bank accounts or crypto wallets and forward money. An undated CFTC advisory, checked in October 2026, calls that "a form of money laundering that could land you in jail." This is general information, not legal advice.

Before your next match

Most matches are who they say they are. Hold two lines: no investing on a match's advice, and no fees to withdraw. Before any money talk, TrulyWho checks a match's public profiles and usernames from an email or phone in about a minute, and you can add their photo to see if it shows up on other pages under other names. It checks the person. For the trading site, use the platform checks above.

FAQ

How do I check if a cryptocurrency site is legit or a scam?

Use the CFTC's checks. Look up the site's domain age at lookup.icann.org, search FinCEN's MSB Registrant Search and NMLS, and look up anyone giving advice on Investor.gov or FINRA BrokerCheck. IC3 says to search more than the name, including the web address and screenshots of the app. Investor.gov says an app store listing doesn't make an app legitimate. If a match you met online picked the site, stop there.

Can you get your money back if you get scammed on crypto?

Rarely. The CFTC says recovering money lost to fraud "is rare and more difficult" once dollars are converted to crypto, and IC3 says crypto transactions can't be reversed. Report fast anyway at ic3.gov and ReportFraud.ftc.gov, call your bank and tell the exchange you used. Don't pay anyone who promises to recover it: the FBI says such services "are often scams as well."

Can crypto sent to a scammer be traced?

It can be, but tracing is not the same as getting it back. IC3's cryptocurrency page says law enforcement can trace crypto transactions, but may face significant challenges once funds move to other countries. The DOJ's victim compensation page (undated, checked October 2026) says forfeited money can go back to victims through petitions for remission or through the courts as restitution, but it doesn't say whether, when or how much any one victim will get. Remission is free: "If you are asked to pay a fee, it is fraud." This is general information and not legal advice.

What are common romance scammer phrases?

In a crypto romance scam the turn to money sounds friendly. Official alerts describe a match who claims to be wealthy from crypto trading, sometimes from "inside information from an uncle or other insider," per the CFTC. FINRA says they may start "asking whether you have an investment or crypto asset account." The FTC adds: "Scammers say there’s no risk." Any investment talk from a match is the signal to stop.

Is pig butchering the same as a romance scam?

Not quite. It is investment fraud that often starts as a romance or friendship. IC3 said in March 2023 the schemes are "usually beginning with a romance or confidence scam and evolving into cryptocurrency investment fraud." FinCEN says the name comes from fattening a hog before slaughter. The FBI calls it cryptocurrency investment fraud. The ask is an investment on a fake platform, then fees to withdraw.

How do you know if you are chatting with a scammer?

Watch for the turn to money. The FBI lists someone you met online or by unsolicited text who pitches an investment, wants to move to an encrypted messaging app, or asks you to limit contact with family and financial advisers. The CFTC adds a match who messages often but can never meet in person. IC3's advice: "Do not invest per the advice of someone you meet solely online."