What it looks like
A person contacts you on a dating app, social network or messaging service. They are warm, attentive and consistent. Over weeks or months the relationship deepens. Then a need appears: a medical bill, a customs fee, a business opportunity, a plane ticket to finally meet. They ask you to pay in crypto, or to buy crypto and send it to an address they provide.
Sometimes the request is framed as an investment you can make together. That version often turns into pig butchering.
Red flags
- They won't video call, or the camera is always "broken".
- The relationship moves quickly, with strong declarations early on.
- They ask you to keep the relationship or the money private.
- Every payment is urgent, and the amounts grow over time.
- They insist on crypto, gift cards or wire transfers rather than ordinary payment methods.
What to do next
- Stop sending funds, even if you're told one more payment will unlock everything.
- Keep everything: messages, profile links, wallet addresses and transaction hashes.
- Report it to your local police and to the platform where you met.
- Start a free assessment with Chainsentra. An investigator will tell you honestly what can be traced and who could act on it.
Be careful of anyone who contacts you afterwards offering to return your funds for a fee. That is a common second fraud: see fake recovery services.