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“But love is blind and
lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves
commit”
Last Friday, the Department of Financial Protection &
Innovation issued a warning about “romance scams and
cryptocurrency”. This warning is similar to one issued this month by the North
American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA). The DFPI
describes the modus operandi of the romance scammer:
Fraudsters develop fake online profiles on dating apps and other
social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. They then reach out
to people on the apps and attempt to develop a relationship. The
scammer may claim to live in another country, but they are
interested in meeting and taking the relationship to another level.
They may also suggest you move your “relationship” to a
private channel like email or a chat app. When the time is right,
the fraudster poses an urgent request for money, and requests you
send money via gift cards, prepaid debit cards, or
cryptocurrency.
In some romance scams, the fraudster requests that the
conversation continue on another app and lures the person into
installing fake apps or encrypted apps on their smartphones that
leave them open to theft. Scammers will go very far to make the
fake app look very similar to a legitimate app.
Once the person agrees to send money to the scammer, they get
them to download the fake crypto trading app. The scheme may
continue until the person wants to end the relationship or stop
sending money and contacts the app to get out their money out. The
person may then find themselves locked out of their account and
contact customer support only to be talking to one of the scammers.
In some cases, the person may be asked to pay an “exit
fee” to get their money out.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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