Romance-to-Crypto Investment (Pig Butchering)
An online partner slowly pivots the relationship into 'teaching' you to invest in crypto on a fake platform that shows fake profits — until you can't withdraw.
Think a message like this reached you? You can check it right now.
What this scam is
This starts as a warm online relationship or even a friendly 'wrong number' chat. Over weeks, your partner mentions how well they do investing in crypto and offers to guide you. They walk you onto a professional-looking trading platform (which is fake) where your deposits show growing profits. You are encouraged to invest more; when you try to withdraw, you are told to pay 'taxes' or fees, and eventually locked out. The relationship exists only to steer you into the fake platform. Losses are often large and irreversible.
What it usually looks like
- A romance or friendship that turns toward investing.
- A partner who 'teaches' you and shares their 'success.'
- A specific trading app or site they guide you to.
- Fake dashboards showing rising profits.
Common warning signs
- A love interest introducing you to a crypto platform.
- Profits that only exist on their platform.
- Requests to deposit more, then fees to withdraw.
- Withdrawals blocked or endlessly delayed.
Example wording scammers use
“I've made so much trading — let me teach you, we can build our future together.”
“Your account grew to $80,000! Just pay the 20% withdrawal tax to release it.”
These are illustrative examples written by ScamSplain, not real messages.
What the scammers want
- Escalating crypto deposits.
- Your trust through a relationship.
- To lock your funds behind 'fees' and 'taxes.'
What to do
- Never invest based on an online-only partner's guidance.
- Treat 'let me teach you to trade' as a major red flag.
- Real withdrawals never require paying a 'tax' to a platform.
- Stop and talk to someone you trust before depositing.
What to do if you already responded
- Stop depositing; you will not recover money by paying more 'fees.'
- Preserve everything and report to ic3.gov and reportfraud.ftc.gov.
- Beware follow-up 'recovery' scammers who target victims.