Crypto investment scams often begin as a relationship, not an investment pitch. After trust is built, the scammer introduces a slick platform that shows fake profits until you try to withdraw real money.
Does this affect you?
Use this for cryptocurrency investments introduced through dating apps, social media, messaging apps, wrong-number texts, unsolicited calls, or ads promising unusual returns.
Recognize the pattern
The relationship is usually the mechanism that makes the fake investment feel believable.
- Contact begins casually through a dating app, social site, messaging app, or wrong-number text before crypto is mentioned.
- The person introduces an unknown app or website, often through a referral, mentor, or special-access story.
- The dashboard shows guaranteed or unusually steady returns. Real crypto markets do not move in a perfectly upward line.
- Small withdrawals may work early to build confidence, but larger withdrawals become blocked.
- The platform demands a tax, fee, deposit, or minimum balance to release funds. That request is another part of the scam.
- After a displayed loss, the scammer pressures you to invest more to recover.
- Support disappears or the platform goes offline once you resist.
If you already sent money
Crypto transfers are hard to reverse, but evidence and reporting still matter.
- Stop sending money immediately, including any unlock, tax, or recovery fee.
- Screenshot the platform, balances, transaction history, wallet addresses, and all messages.
- Contact the bank or exchange you used to buy the crypto and report the destination as fraudulent.
- File with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov and with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
- Report the original social, dating, or messaging account to the platform where contact began.
- Ignore recovery services that promise to get the funds back for an upfront fee. That is often a second scam.
Evaluate crypto opportunities safely
Check before sending funds, not after.
- Use established exchanges you found and researched yourself, not a platform introduced by someone you met online.
- Treat guaranteed returns as a stop sign. No legitimate investment can promise profits.
- Try a small withdrawal early and stop if the platform resists, delays, or asks for a fee.
- Check regulatory information through SEC investor.gov and FINRA BrokerCheck when an investment firm or advisor is involved.
- Talk to someone outside the relationship before investing, especially if the contact is romantic or emotionally intense.
More control
The app can look professional
A polished dashboard does not prove funds exist. In many scams, the displayed balance is just a number controlled by the scammer.
Crypto is difficult to claw back
Once a crypto transaction is confirmed, it usually cannot be reversed like a card charge. That is why prevention matters more than recovery.
Sources
- FTC Consumer Advice – What to know about cryptocurrency and scams (2025)
- FBI IC3 – Cryptocurrency investment fraud public service announcement (2025)
- SEC – Investor alert on fraudulent crypto and pig butchering schemes (2024)