The stereotype is an elderly person tricked by an obvious fake profile. The reality the FTC has actually documented is different: nearly 60% of people who reported losing money to a romance scam in 2025 said it started on social media, not a dating app, and the people targeted span every age group. The pattern is more specific, and more recognizable, than the stereotype suggests.
THE SHAPE THE SCAM ACTUALLY TAKES
It starts as an ordinary connection: a follow, a comment, a message that seems genuine. The relationship builds over weeks, sometimes months, entirely through text and calls. There’s always a reason video calls don’t quite happen, a bad connection, a work trip, a broken camera. Then comes a financial ask, framed as urgent and temporary: a medical emergency, a stuck shipment, travel money to finally meet in person.
THE NEWER TWIST: INVESTMENT PIVOTS
A growing version of this scam doesn’t ask for money directly. Instead, the other person introduces you to a cryptocurrency or investment opportunity, sometimes walking you through setting up an account on a platform that looks real. Early “returns” show up to build trust. Larger deposits follow. The platform and the person both disappear once you try to withdraw. This version can look less like a romance scam and more like a bad investment, which is part of why it works.
THE SIGNS WORTH TAKING SERIOUSLY
Someone who won’t video call, ever, despite months of talking. A relationship that escalates emotionally faster than it would in person. Any financial ask, no matter how small or how it’s framed. A pivot toward an investment platform you’ve never heard of, especially one they’re walking you through step by step.
WHAT TO DO IF THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR
Stop sending money or personal financial information immediately. Do a reverse image search on their profile photo; stolen photos are common and a search often surfaces the real source. Talk to someone outside the relationship about it before making any further financial decisions, since the isolation from other perspectives is often part of how these situations continue as long as they do.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The version of this scam that’s actually happening in 2025 starts on social media, not a dating app, and it targets people who consider themselves too careful to fall for it. Won’t video call, financial ask, investment pivot: any one of those is worth pausing on.