Source: US FBI
“If I can save just one person from this folly, if I can make one person realize that this is not real, I’ve done my job,” said Rita, who asked to be identified only by her first name, in a public service announcement that urges those looking for love not to be fooled by a scammer.
The FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office released the PSA in recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day observed on June 15.
Rita, who lives in Montana, says she lost $90,000 over the course of several months to someone posing as a celebrity.
The “celebrity” initially reached out to her on a social media platform and eventually asked her to move their communication to an encrypted application. “Here’s the beginning,” said Rita, 66, referencing a screenshot of their messages on her cell phone. “You know sometimes my management gets to handle all my pages and that’s actually their job and what they do and how we have worked hand-in-hand to get me to this level that I am now. I would like us to have our relationship privately and our conversations privately,” she read from her phone.
Rita said the two communicated as friends first. “He was going through a divorce. I was going through this also and so we kind of connected emotionally on that and then it just morphed into something more romantic.”
The “celebrity” eventually started asking her for money for events like a meet and greet. “It was always through Bitcoin,” she said. “The money is ok. I lost about $90,000 which is a big chunk. However, the biggest part is to lose your heart and your soul and that is a big part and that takes a long time to get back.”
“It hit me at the right time. I was very vulnerable at that time, going through a divorce.”
“For me, these texts were like a drug. They were like a drug I needed to live with. I couldn’t live without them.”
Now, she realizes the red flags. “And I read these texts and I’m like, it makes me sick that I fell for this.”
A confidence/romance scam is when a perpetrator deceives a victim into believing the perpetrator and the victim have a trusting relationship, whether family, friendly, or romantic. As a result of that belief, the victim is persuaded to send money, send personal or financial information, send items of value to the perpetrator, or launder money on behalf of the perpetrator.
Confidence/romance scams have resulted in one of the highest amounts of financial losses when compared to other Internet-facilitated crimes.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report, confidence fraud/romance scams resulted in 7,626 victims over 60 years old and a total approximate loss of $389 million in 2024. In Utah, 91 victims reported $2,851,906 in losses. In Montana, 44 victims reported losses of $2,291,700, and in Idaho, 58 victims reported $545,137 in losses.
The best defense of confidence/romance scams is education and awareness to deter individuals from falling victim to these scams.
Here are some tips to help avoid becoming a victim:
- Be careful what you post because scammers can use that information against you.
- Only use dating websites with national reputations but assume that con artists are trolling even the most reputable sites.
- Go slow and ask questions.
- Research the individual’s pictures and profile using other online search tools to ensure someone else’s profile was not used or to see if that same pitch is being used on multiple victims at once.
- The individual sends you a photo that looks like it is out of a magazine.
- The individual professes love quickly.
- The individual tries to isolate you from family and friends.
- The individual claims to be working and living far away, whether that is on the other side of the country or overseas.
- The individual makes plans to visit you, but always cancels because of some emergency.
- The individual asks you for money. Never send money to someone you met online and have not met in person. It may take weeks or months for the perpetrator to get to the point of asking for money, they are most often communicating with several victims at once, so they can go slow.
- The individual may ask for your help in moving money. Never help anyone move money through your own account or another’s, you could become an unwitting money mule.
- The individual asks you to send compromising photos or videos of yourself or asks for your financial information. Never send anything that can later be used to blackmail you.
- If you plan to meet someone in person that you have met online, the FBI recommends using caution, do not travel alone, and check the State Department’s Travel Advisories before arranging any travel. Individuals should know that some victims that have agreed to meet in person with an online love interest have been reported missing, injured, and, in one instance, deceased.
“Scammers are professionals at manipulating their victims, and operate without conscience or compassion,” said Special Agent in Charge Mehtab Syed of the Salt Lake City FBI. “The FBI is committed to holding perpetrators accountable and conducting outreach efforts for awareness and prevention.”
Rita is sharing her story in hopes others will learn from it.
‘So many people are so embarrassed to come forward and admit to it. You really shouldn’t because you give these people an opportunity to make even more money, so you need to report it,” she said. “Don’t get taken advantage of. It’s so hard and it hurts at the end, it really hurts, and I want to save people from this hurt because you do hurt, and it takes a while to put yourself back together again and I’m glad I am back to who I am.”
If you are a victim of a romance scam, or believe you have been victimized by an online fraud, file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov and call your local FBI field office.
More information about romance scams can be found here: Romance Scams—FBI