| Online romance scams have caused heartbreak and financial ruin for years. But now, criminal enterprises have found even more ways to exploit their targets and compound the damage by engaging them in crypto-investment schemes. The way it starts out? An errant text. And the people sending these texts? They may be captives forced to do it. |
| How It Works• You receive a text you think was sent in error — maybe it’s a pet owner trying to reach the vet, or it’s a text asking if you’re still on for dinner that night.•Being polite, you respond to let the sender know their text didn’t make it to the intended recipient.•This is all it takes for an “errant” text to begin a conversation that sparks a friendship or love interest, that becomes a trusted relationship, which opens the door for “learning” how to invest in cryptocurrency. |
| What You Should Know• Romance scams have become one of the top drivers of cryptocurrency fraud, which has taken a quantum leap in recent years. The Federal Trade Commission pegged reported theft through romance scams at $1.14 billion in 2023, marking the highest reported losses among all impostor scams. With fraud significantly underreported, we know the amounts are likely far higher.•Behind this fraud are transnational criminal enterprises who lure front-line “workers” with fake employment offers and kidnap them to ensnare targets. Authorities estimate that more than 200,000 people have been forced into being on the front line of these schemes.•While the errant text is the latest mode, this scam still plays out on the traditional channels of social media and dating sites and apps. |
| What You Should Do• If you get a text like this, or any suspicious text, and your smartphone has a “report junk” option, use it to flag the message for your carrier or forward the message to 7726. This allows service providers to update their protective algorithms in real time to block the numbers.•Sadly, danger lurks behind all forms of communications as fraud grows unabated. It’s not safe to engage with texts, messages or friend requests on apps when you don’t know the person already. Avoid clicking on links in email or text messages, especially those that are unsolicited. And let your voicemail or answering machine handle calls you are unsure about.•By reading this, you now have the power to protect yourself from this insidious scheme. Share what you know to help protect others. |
reprinted from AARP Fraud Watch Network