Associated Incidents
Millions turn to dating apps to find love, but for some, it leads to heartbreak and financial loss.
Beth Hyland thought she had met the love of her life on a dating app, but the man she knew as Richard turned out to be a scammer.
Beth and Richard would text, exchange photos, and talk on the phone constantly, eventually discussing marriage. Richard told Beth he worked in construction, and about a month into their relationship, said he needed to go to Qatar for a meeting. He was about to get paid for a construction project he worked on there. He needed to hire a lawyer, and asked Beth for help sending a payment when he couldn't access his account.
"He sent me the login details and I was able to get into the account and transfer the money for him and make that payment," Beth told us. "I know that was a tactic to gain my trust, and it worked."
Next, Richard told Beth he needed to hire a translator. This time, he said his account was frozen and could only be unfrozen in person. Beth, wanting to help the man she thought she was marrying, sent him $26,000 in bitcoin.
"I thought, why wouldn't I help my fiancé?" Beth said.
When it came time for Richard to get his supposed payout, he asked Beth to manage the deposit. She set up an account on a cryptocurrency website but was told she'd have to pay a $50,000 fee to withdraw the money. That's when she contacted her financial advisor.
"I told him everything, and him and his team are trained in romance fraud. And he said, 'Beth, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I think you're in a romance scam'," Beth said. "He kept telling me it's classic romance fraud. I said, 'We're in love. How is this classic romance fraud?'"
When Beth tried to cut Richard off, the manipulation continued, and Beth says he even threatened to take his own life. "I have a pretty good sense of myself," Beth told us. "Real or not, this is not OK."
Beth didn't let up and contacted law enforcement. Although her money hasn't been recovered, Beth is now advocating for change. Her experience and others like it have inspired a bipartisan bill that could prevent future crimes. The Romance Scam Prevention Act would require online dating service providers like dating apps to notify users who have interacted with accounts flagged for fraud.
Beth vowed not to let her experience break her. She wants to be a voice for other victims. "The biggest thing I really want to communicate is, it's not your fault," Beth said. "I hear a lot of victims still beat themselves up, or I heard someone says once, 'I don't know if I can forgive myself for letting this happen.' I'm like, you didn't let this happen. You're not duped; you're *manipulated *into scams."
The Better Business Bureau recently identified romance scams and cryptocurrency scams among the costliest types of scams in its 2024 Scam Tracker Risk Report. To protect yourself while using dating apps, the BBB recommends the following tips:
- Take a closer look at the dating profile. Scammers often use stolen photos, so try a reverse image search to see if the pictures pop up elsewhere. You can also search their profile name, email, or phone number online to spot any red flags. If something doesn't add up, report it to the dating app.
- Watch out for relationships that move too fast. Scammers tend to build trust quickly and push to take the conversation off the dating app to private platforms like WhatsApp or email.
- Never send money or share personal information with someone you haven't met in person. If they pressure you to invest in a crypto trading platform, make sure to research the platform thoroughly before doing anything.
If you've been a victim of a romance scam, report it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, the FTC at ReportFraud.FTC.gov, and the Better Business Bureau at BBB.org/scamtracker.