In support of the multiagency #DatingOrDefrauding Campaign, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is reminding financial institutions to remain vigilant regarding suspicious activity that may be indicative of relationship investment scams.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission launched the #DatingOrDefrauding national awareness effort to alert the public to relationship investment scams targeting Americans through wrong-numbered texts, dating apps, and social media. Losses from romance and confidence scams reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation exceeded $650 million in 2023.

FinCEN has previously published several resources to help stakeholders identify and report illicit financial activity that may be indicative of relationship investment scams and other types of romance and confidence scams:

• Alert on Prevalent Virtual Currency Investment Scam Commonly Referred to as “Pig Butchering” by Perpetrators (September 2023) – This alert describes a prominent relationship investment scam in which scammers leverage fictitious identities, the guise of potential relationships, and elaborate storylines to trick victims into believing they stand to profit from trusted partnerships before defrauding them in virtual currency investment and over-the-counter foreign exchange schemes. These scams are largely perpetrated by criminal enterprises overseas who use victims of labor trafficking to conduct outreach to millions of unsuspecting individuals around the world.
• Advisory on Elder Financial Exploitation (June 2022) – This advisory highlights how romance scams are commonly used to perpetrate elder fraud, or the illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds, property, or assets. Perpetrators of these scams may attempt to establish a close or romantic relationship with older adults to exploit their confidence and trust for financial gain.
• Financial Trend Analysis: Elder Financial Exploitation: Threat Pattern & Trend Information, June 2022 to June 2023 (April 2024) – FinCEN’s analysis found that romance scams, often perpetrated through online dating platforms, were cited frequently among Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) linked to elder financial exploitation. This report describes how romance scams can follow several distinct patterns and can evolve into investment scams once a connection is established.
• Financial Trend Analysis: Mail Theft-Related Check Fraud: Threat Pattern & Trend Information, February to August 2023 (September 2024) – This analysis describes, among other findings, how fraudsters in mail theft-related check fraud schemes convince romance scam victims to negotiate a check and then send the funds elsewhere, using the victims as money mules to move stolen funds.

FinCEN reminds financial institutions to use the specific Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filing instructions and key terms noted in its alerts and advisory products. SAR filings, along with effective BSA compliance, are crucial to helping law enforcement detect, investigate, and prosecute cases involving relationship investment scams.