1. Make contact. First the criminals prowl the web for victims and make contact through text messages, dating apps, websites or direct messages on platforms including Facebook and LinkedIn. Some criminals pretend they are young and attractive and use fake profile photos to support that charade.
2. Spark romance. They may chat with their targets for three or four hours a day to draw them in, starting the day with a wake-up message, “Good morning, sweetheart,” and going from there. This frequent messaging can last a month or much longer.
3. Talk — and take — money. As the digital “relationship” deepens, perpetrators persuade victims to make what is purportedly an investment in cryptocurrency. Photos of luxury cars and vacations are shared to give the illusion of new wealth and spur the victim to act. In some cases, the scammer will feign ignorance of crypto but purport that their “uncle” is a skilled investor and can help them out.
Criminals have various ways of collecting the money: Some instruct victims to go to a crypto ATM to buy digital currency and send it to them. Or they might send victims a link to purchase crypto that actually “puts [the money] in the perpetrator’s digital wallet,” AARP’s Nofziger says.
4. Demonstrate fake gains. If the victims agree to buy crypto, the (still seemingly adoring) criminals directs them to fabricated websites that appear to show that the investment is paying off big-time.
5. Ask for more money. Sometimes victims are able to make small withdrawals from their accounts at first, but if they try to cash out, they are told they must pay a 25 percent “tax.”