They built trust, then asked you to invest. Here's the scam.
ScamChecker.online·Last verified May 2026·Largest crypto fraud type·7 min read
In a nutshell
A friendly or romantic stranger spends weeks building trust, then introduces a "can't-lose" crypto or forex investment.
The trading platform is fake. The profits you see on screen are numbers the scammer controls, not real money.
You can deposit, and even make small early withdrawals. But when you try to take out real gains, fees and taxes appear and the money never comes.
It's called "pig butchering": fatten the target with affection and fake profits, then take everything. If you're in one now, stop depositing and read the steps below.
Our verdict
This is a scam. The relationship was built to set up the investment, and the investment is fake. Every "profit," every fee to withdraw, every plea for one more deposit is part of the same long con.1 The visible balance is bait, not money.
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Does this sound familiar?
Someone reached out, maybe a "wrong number" text, a dating app match, or a friendly DM. The conversation was warm and easy, and over days or weeks it became something that felt real: a friendship, maybe a romance. They mentioned how well they were doing with crypto or forex trading, and offered to show you. They never asked for money directly. They offered to help you make some.
Below are reconstructed examples of how these conversations begin, recreated to show the pattern. Names, photos, and numbers are invented. (Illustrations, not real screenshots. Anyone depicted is fictional.)
?
Unknown
+1 (555) 555-0162
Text Message · Today 12:05 PM
Hi David! Are we still on for the design meeting Thursday? 😊
The "wrong number" opener. You say they have the wrong person, they apologize, and a friendly chat begins. That's the hook.
@
Dating app match
in-app message
Match · Today 8:42 PM
You seem so genuine, that's rare here. I don't check this app much, let's talk on WhatsApp instead? 🙂
Moving you to WhatsApp or Telegram early is standard. It gets you off the platform that might flag or ban them.
@
new_friend
Social DM
Direct message · Today 6:18 PM
My uncle works in crypto and shares signals with me. I made 30% last month 📈 I can show you how if you want, no pressure at all.
The investment is introduced casually, framed as a favour. "No pressure" is the pressure. It makes refusing feel rude.
The opening varies (wrong number, dating app, social DM, professional network), but it always moves toward the same place: a private chat, a warm bond, and eventually an investment "opportunity."
How it works
Pig butchering is a long con, run patiently over weeks or months. That patience is what makes it so effective and so hard to spot from the inside. (The app screens below are illustrations of how these fake platforms typically appear.)
1
Contact and trust-building
It starts with a stranger: a misdirected text, a dating match, a social DM. They're warm, attentive, and consistent. Over days or weeks they build a real-feeling friendship or romance, moving you to a private app like WhatsApp or Telegram. No money is mentioned yet.
‹
Emily
online
Good morning! Did you sleep ok? ☀️
8:10
Morning! Yeah, you?
8:11 ✓✓
Always better talking to you 😊
8:12
Arrives via
SMSWhatsAppDating
2
The investment, and early "wins"
Once you trust them, they reveal their crypto or forex success and offer to guide you, often citing an "insider" or "uncle in the industry." You start small on a slick-looking platform they recommend. It shows quick gains, and they may even let you withdraw a little early to prove it's real.
📈 CoinTrade ProVIP
Portfolio Value
$6,480
Deposited
$5,000
"Profit"
+$1,480
The platform and the profits are fabricated. A small early payout exists only to make the rest feel safe.
3
"Invest more" as profits climb
Encouraged by the gains and the relationship, you put in more, sometimes savings, loans, or retirement funds. The numbers keep rising. They may discourage you from talking to your bank or family about it, framing it as your private opportunity together.
📈 CoinTrade ProVIP 3
Portfolio Value
$84,200
Deposited
$60,000
"Profit"
+$24,200
↑
Today's "gain"
+$3,140
"I could see my balance going up every day. She told me not to tell my son because he'd want a cut. I kept putting more in."
- Composite of victim accounts, reconstructed
4
You try to withdraw. It won't let you.
When you try to cash out, the trap springs. The platform demands a "tax," a "fee," or a minimum balance before releasing funds. Pay it and another appears. Eventually the platform freezes or vanishes, the friend goes quiet, and the money, which was never really there, is gone.1
To withdraw, first pay…
↑
"Withdrawal tax" (20%)+$16,840
↑
"Account verification"+$5,000
↑
"Anti-money-laundering bond"+$9,000
⚠️
Withdrawal on hold
Your account is under review. Clear the outstanding fee to release funds.
Real platforms deduct fees from your balance. Only a scam needs fresh money before it will "release" yours.
Remember
An online-only contact who steers you to invest is the red flag.
Profits on screen aren't money. You can't withdraw what isn't real.
Fees to "unlock" a withdrawal are always part of the scam.
Talk to someone you trust offline. Secrecy protects the scammer.
Red flags to catch it early
None of these alone is proof. Several together means stop.
A stranger's contact that drifts toward investing
A wrong-number text, dating match, or DM that warms into friendship, then turns to crypto or forex. The CFTC names wrong-number texts and dating apps as common openers.2
They never meet or video-call properly
Excuses pile up: travel, work on an oil rig, a broken camera. You're weeks or months in and have never truly seen them live.
An "insider" tip or guaranteed returns
A relative in finance, a special signal, a platform that only ever goes up. Real investing has no sure things.
"My uncle's signals haven't lost once. 30% a month, easy."
A platform only they recommend
An app or website you'd never heard of, often sideloaded or via a link they sent, not a mainstream regulated exchange.
You're told to keep it secret
Don't tell your bank, your family, or a financial advisor. Isolation keeps anyone from talking you out of it.3
Fees or taxes to withdraw your own money
The decisive sign. Being asked to deposit more before you can take anything out means the balance isn't real.
Not sure if it's a scam yet?
If you recognize even a couple of these, pause before sending another cent. A few honest checks:
Try a full withdrawal now, not a small one. If you can't take everything out without paying a fee first, that's your answer.
Reverse-image-search their photos. Stolen or AI-generated images are common. A match elsewhere is a red flag.
Tell one person you trust offline what's happening, in plain terms. Saying it out loud often breaks the spell.
Check the platform against your country's regulator (in the US, the SEC and CFTC publish investor alerts). If it's unregistered, walk away.
A note on who's really on the other end
Many of these scams are run from large compounds in Southeast Asia, and a significant share of the "scammers" are themselves victims of human trafficking, coerced into the work under threat. That doesn't lessen the harm done to you, but it explains the industrial scale and scripted feel. The networks behind pig butchering are organized criminal operations, not lone con artists.1
Already invested or sent money?
If you're realizing this now
Stop depositing, document, report
This was engineered by professionals to fool careful people. It is not a failure of intelligence.
1
Stop sending money immediatelyDo not pay the "tax" or "fee" to unlock a withdrawal. There is no balance to release. Every further payment is lost too.
2
Don't tip them off, but stop investingYou don't owe a confrontation. Just stop depositing. Preserve the chats and account before anything is deleted, then disengage.
3
Document everythingScreenshot the conversations, the profile, the platform, your balance, and every transaction: dates, amounts, wallet addresses, and any bank or exchange you sent through. This is essential for any report.
4
Contact your bank or crypto exchange nowIf you paid by card or bank transfer, ask about a dispute. If you sent crypto, your exchange may be able to flag the destination wallet. Confirmed crypto transfers usually can't be reversed, but act fast and report regardless.
5
Report it, and reach out for supportFile with the authority for your country below. The financial loss is one part; the emotional toll of a betrayed relationship is real too. Telling someone you trust, or a support line, matters.
6
Ignore anyone who later offers to "recover" your cryptoPig butchering victims are heavily targeted by follow-up money recovery scams. No legitimate service charges an upfront fee to get your money back.
Not sure where to report? Search "[your country] report investment fraud." For crypto losses, the FBI IC3 accepts international reports.
How big is this problem?
Pig butchering is now the dominant form of cryptocurrency investment fraud, and crypto investment fraud is the single largest category of reported losses in US internet crime.
$7.2B
Reported US losses to crypto investment fraud in 2025, the FBI's largest loss category1
~$10B
Estimated US pig-butchering losses over a recent year, per a multi-agency CFTC campaign2
Weeks–months
Typical grooming period before any investment is mentioned2
$1M+
Individual losses are not rare; some victims lose their entire savings1
The CFTC describes the shape plainly: a new "friend," often met through a wrong-number text or dating app, who appears successful from trading digital assets and, after weeks of contact, encourages you to invest. At first it looks like you're making money, so you invest more. Once you have nothing left, the money and the friend disappear.2 The FBI's crime reporting puts crypto investment fraud at the top of its loss categories, with pig butchering its most prominent form. Reported losses have climbed steeply year over year, from about $3.96 billion in 2023 to $5.8 billion in 2024 and over $7.2 billion in 2025.1
The mechanics are engineered to defeat caution. The fake platform shows steady gains. A small early withdrawal "proves" it pays out. By the time withdrawal is blocked behind a "tax," you've often invested far more than you ever planned, and the sunk cost makes walking away feel like the real loss. That visible balance is the trap.
The defense isn't cleverness, it's a rule: do not invest based on someone you only know online, and never pay a fee to withdraw your own "profits." If a relationship that started with a stranger's message turns toward an investment, that is the scam beginning, no matter how genuine the person feels.
Sources
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), annual Internet Crime Reports and Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud guidance. Crypto investment fraud as the top loss category, rising from ~$3.96B (2023) to $5.8B (2024) to over $7.2B (2025); pig butchering as its main form; the withdrawal-fee trap; Southeast Asian trafficking-fueled compounds.
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, "Romance Frauds" and the multi-agency "Dating or Defrauding?" awareness campaign. Wrong-number / dating-app openers, the grooming-then-invest pattern, and the ~$10B annual estimate.
FBI Operation Level Up and allied investor-protection guidance. Warning signs including moving to encrypted apps, requests to limit contact with family/advisors, and undisclosed withdrawal fees and taxes.
Researched and maintained by ScamChecker.online
We document recurring online scam patterns using primary sources: government agencies, law enforcement, and security researchers. The people shown in our illustrations are fictional. Ads on this page do not influence our reporting. Read about how we research or who we are.
Last verified: May 2026·Reviewed against current FBI, CFTC, and FTC guidance