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Know Your Scam: How to Spot and Protect Yourself From Romance Scams

2023-04-03
Know Your Scam

Main Takeaways

  • Romance scammers involve criminals adopting a fake identity and posing as someone interested in you in a relatively short period of time. 

  • If you’re dating “someone special” whom you’ve only met online and they ask you to transfer them money, buy gifts, or make an investment, don’t be hasty to do as they ask. 

  • Suspect you’re a victim of a romance scam? Report the incident immediately to relevant local authorities and the Binance Support team. 

Protect yourself from romance scams. Learn how scammers build trust and tips to identify and report romance scam profiles in this week's edition of Know Your Scam.

Millions of people use online dating websites, apps, or social media to find companionship. For those who do meet a special someone online, it can be a breathtaking experience that makes you want to prioritize love above all else. 

Unfortunately, some scammers take advantage of people looking to find romantic partners – lurking online to steal their hearts… and their crypto.

We’ve highlighted some common romance scams with real-life examples below. Look out for the following red flags and stay alert to scammers experienced in romancing victims out of their crypto. 

How Scammers Can Steal Your Heart and Crypto in Three Steps

1. Attracting the victim

The first step for any romance scammer is attracting their victim. Scammers typically create fake online profiles to lure in their prey and avoid being caught. They may assume false identities, such as socialites, military personnel, aid workers, or professionals working abroad.

A scammer tends to use a victim’s interests against them, tailoring their persona to suit them. If your budding relationship seems to fit your preferences perfectly, be wary; it could be because they are trying to please you by catering to your interests.

Scammers tend to assert their role early on, ensuring everything looks authentic. For instance, upon making contact with their victim, they may show off pictures of sports cars, expensive watches, and luxury goods if they’re posing as a wealthy socialite. 

Even if they aren’t lurking on a dating channel, some scammers may pretend to send a message to the wrong number, hoping the victim will take their bait and continue the conversation.

2. Courting without meeting in person

Once victims have developed an interest in them, scammers will persistently try to establish the relationship. They may go to great lengths to gain trust by showering their victims with words of affection, sharing fabricated personal information, or even sending gifts. 

Romance scammers will often profess their feelings relatively early on. However, some crafty criminals can take months to build what feels like the romance of a lifetime and may even pretend to book flights to visit their victims, except they never actually follow through. 

It can be difficult to tell a genuine connection from a fabricated one, but one red flag is if you’ve never met your ‘significant other’ in person.

3. Asking for money or crypto

“I want to visit you, but the flight ticket is too expensive.”

“There’s an investment opportunity that can let me earn money for our house.”

“Do you have some spare cash? My dad is very ill, and we need it for treatment.”

You’re in love, and they’re in debt? Once a scammer knows they’ve romanced their victim, they will typically start asking for money or crypto. It may be disguised as a personal emergency, like expenses for a family member requiring immediate medical attention or temporary financial support due to an unfortunate run of bad luck, such as a failed business or mugging in the street. It could also be something close to the heart, like a flight ticket to end a long-distance relationship or capital for a secret “profitable investment” to fund a future wedding.

The bottom line: If you’re dating someone you met online and they ask for money or crypto, it’s likely a romance scam.

Examples in Action

Example 1: Long-distance romance with military personnel

The user, who we’ll call Lucy, meets a “man from the military” named Jack. At the start of their relationship, Jack shares his daily life in the army with Lucy. After a few days of constant communication, they trade contact numbers and add each other on WhatsApp to continue their budding relationship. 

Soon after, “I love you”s are traded, and Jack promises Lucy that they’ll meet as soon as he leaves the army in three months. The only catch? He needs money for his airfare. 

Eager to meet her beau, Lucy follows Jack’s instructions and transfers funds to his deposit address via Binance. 

As soon as the transfer is complete, he disappears, leaving Lucy heartbroken and the victim of a romance scam.

Example 2: Fake investment opportunity

The user is approached by a self-proclaimed socialite, entrepreneur, CEO, self-made millionaire, or other similar identities and starts being intimate with them. Often, these scammers will openly display their luxurious lifestyles online.

After flaunting their wealth on Instagram or to the victim, the scammer tells their victim about the “secret to their success,” inviting them to do the same. 

However, these “business opportunities” are actually fake investment projects or scams.

Other examples

  • Cover administrative fees or taxes. The scammer will tell their victim about a large amount of money they need to transfer out of their country, requesting funds to cover their “administrative fees” or “taxes” to do so.

Tips to Protect Yourself From Romance Scams

Beware of fake online lovers

  • Scammers’ messages are often poorly written and vague. Be alert to spelling and grammar mistakes, inconsistencies in their stories, and other signs that they are hiding their real identity. For instance, be cautious if they always avoid meeting in person or if their camera never works during video calls.

  • Be alert if an online relationship escalates too quickly from first contact to deep professions of love. 

  • Check the background of your potential partner before pursuing a deeper relationship. You can use image search applications such as TinEye or Google to check if the person is who they say they are. You can also try searching online for the full name of the person you’re chatting with, their job, and the keywords like “scammer,” “romance scam,” or “dating fraud.”

  • Never send money to someone you haven’t met in person. 

If You’ve Been Scammed

  • If you gave your personal details to a scammer, cancel your cards and inform your banks immediately. To keep your money safe, you should change the passwords of your bank and crypto accounts. 

  • Call the police and provide them with all the evidence you have. While not always successful, you may be able to recover the lost funds if they catch the culprit.

  • Flag the scammer’s identity to the website, application, or social media platform where they first approached you. Remember to provide all details that may prevent them from scamming others.

  • If you have been involved in a romance scam and sent funds via Binance, file a report immediately by following the steps outlined in this guide: How to Report Scams on Binance Support.

We also encourage all users, both new and old, to read through our anti-scam series to better equip themselves against common crypto scams. 

Further Reading

Disclaimer and Risk Warning: This content is presented to you on an “as is” basis for general information and educational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind. It should not be construed as financial advice, nor is it intended to recommend the purchase of any specific product or service. Digital asset prices can be volatile. The value of your investment may go down or up, and you may not get back the amount invested. You are solely responsible for your investment decisions, and Binance is not liable for any losses you may incur. Not financial advice. For more information, see our Terms of Use and Risk Warning.