People & Trust
Romance & Confidence Fraud
A confidence scheme that builds a fake relationship or friendship — online or by phone — to manipulate the victim into sending money, gift cards, or crypto. It frequently escalates into investment fraud.
01 — How it works
- 01
Contact
Meet on a dating app, game, or social platform.
- 02
Groom
Invest weeks building a relationship or friendship.
- 03
Request
Introduce an emergency or investment 'opportunity.'
- 04
Repeat
Escalate amounts until the victim stops paying.
02 — Lifecycle
From first contact to detection.
Matched
Initial contact on an app or platform.
Bonded
Weeks or months of relationship building.
Asked
An emergency or investment request lands.
Abandoned
The persona disappears once payments stop.
03 — Common variants
- Romance scam
- Friendship scam
- Pig butchering
- Family emergency
04 — Statutes & penalties
18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Wire Fraud), § 1956 (Money Laundering)
Up to 20 years; large transnational operations add money-laundering counts and forfeiture.
05 — How people are drawn in
Perpetrators work from scripted playbooks in organized compounds or small teams; some victims are later coerced into becoming money mules.
06 — Examples
- Dating-app relationships that end in an 'emergency' request for money.
- Long 'friendships' that transition into a fake investment platform (pig butchering).
- Family-emergency impersonation over text or social media.