A romance scam is a fraud in which someone uses a fake identity or a deceptive relationship to gain your trust, then persuades you to hand over money, financial information, cryptocurrency, or other assets.

These scams are hard to spot because they often build over weeks or months through regular conversations and emotional manipulation.

STB Investigation reviews cases for people who think they’ve been caught up in a romance scam. We help you understand what happened, preserve your evidence, and identify your reporting and investigation options.

Understanding Romance Scams

Romance scammers usually make contact through dating apps, social media, messaging platforms, or other online services.

Once a relationship is established, they introduce a financial request. Common reasons include an emergency, a medical bill, a travel problem, a business or investment opportunity, a customs payment, or a request to send cryptocurrency.

The identity may be fake. Photos, names, job details, and other personal information are often taken from unrelated people.

Not every online relationship that involves a request for money is a scam. We look at the evidence, transaction records, and communications before drawing any conclusion.

Warning Signs

1. Rapid emotional attachment: The person builds a strong emotional bond unusually quickly.
2. Avoiding verification: They repeatedly refuse video calls, in-person meetings, or other reasonable ways to confirm who they are.
3. Repeated financial requests: Requests for money grow over time or come with urgent explanations.
4. Investment requests: They encourage you to move money into a particular investment, trading, or cryptocurrency platform.
5. Emergency stories: Requests are tied to medical treatment, travel trouble, legal issues, family emergencies, or other urgent situations.
6. Requests for cryptocurrency: They ask for crypto because transactions are hard to reverse.
7. Requests for account access: They ask for passwords, banking details, identification documents, wallet credentials, or access to your financial accounts.

How We Work

Depending on your case, we may:

1. Review the communications

We go through the emails, messages, dating profiles, social media accounts, photos, and other communications you give us.

2. Check the identity and profile

We look into the names, usernames, phone numbers, email addresses, websites, and public information linked to the identity the person used.

3. Review your transactions

We examine bank statements, payment confirmations, cryptocurrency transactions, wallet addresses, and other financial records.

4. Build a timeline

We put the communications and transactions in order to show how the relationship developed and when the money requests began.

5. Assess the evidence

We identify what evidence you have and where the gaps are, which matters for reporting and any further investigation.

6. Assess your next steps

We explain your options for reporting, disputes, regulatory complaints, or contacting law enforcement.

If You Suspect a Romance Scam

Keep the evidence before you delete the person’s profile, messages, or other communications.

Useful items include:

• Screenshots of dating profiles
• Social media profiles and usernames
• Emails and messaging records
• Phone numbers
• Photos the person used
• Names and claimed job details
• Bank statements and payment confirmations
• Cryptocurrency wallet addresses
• Blockchain transaction IDs or hashes
• Websites or investment platforms the person recommended
• Copies of documents or invoices they sent
• A record of every money request and payment

If you recently sent money, contact your bank, card provider, payment service, or cryptocurrency exchange as soon as possible and tell them you believe it may be connected to fraud.

Do not send more money because the person says another payment is needed to sort things out.

Can I Get My Money Back?

It depends on your case.

The main factors are how you paid, how long ago it happened, where the money went, whether the receiving institution can identify or freeze the transaction, and what evidence you have.

An investigation can help establish what happened and point to options for reporting or disputing the payment. But recovery is not guaranteed, and STB Investigation cannot promise you’ll get your money back.

Beware of Recovery Scams

People who have lost money to a romance scam are often targeted by others claiming they can get it back.

Be wary of anyone who:

• Guarantees your money will be recovered.
• Says they’ve already recovered your funds before seeing any evidence.
• Demands a large upfront payment in return for guaranteed results.
• Claims special access to banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, law enforcement, or government systems.
• Claims they can hack an account or reverse a cryptocurrency transaction.
• Contacts you out of the blue after learning about your loss.

Before you make any further payment, check the identity and credentials of anyone offering to help.

Why STB Investigation?

• Every case is treated on its own facts: We review your circumstances and evidence.
• We rely on documents: We focus on communications, transaction records, account information, and other evidence.
• A clear timeline: We organise your information into a chronology that shows what happened and when.
• Straight answers: We explain what we find, what the limits are, and what you can do next.
• Your case shapes the work: We adjust our approach to the type of scam and the evidence you have.

Request an Initial Case Assessment

If you think you’ve been a victim of a romance scam, we can review what you have and explain your investigation and reporting options.

Contact STB Investigation to request an initial assessment.

An initial assessment does not guarantee recovery, compensation, identification of a suspect, or any particular outcome.