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Dating scam guide

Money-mule recruitment

Also known as: romance money mule, unwitting money mule

How it works

After grooming a victim, the scammer asks them to receive money, checks or crypto 'on their behalf' because of a banking problem, then forward it elsewhere. Some victims are asked to open new bank accounts, set up LLCs or companies, or convert funds to crypto. The money is stolen from other victims, so the person helping is laundering it. When banks close accounts, the scammer asks for new ones. Victims can lose money, face bank penalties, and in some cases face prosecution.

Who is targetedExisting romance-scam victims, often older adults.
How fast it movesMonths; often follows an earlier phase in which the victim has already sent their own money.
Typical routeDating app/social media -> messaging -> victim's bank accounts, new accounts or LLCs -> crypto wallets or overseas accounts

Red flags

  • They ask you to receive money or a check and send it on to someone else
  • They ask you to open a new bank account, crypto account or company for them
  • They ask you to withdraw cash for a courier or convert money into crypto for them
  • Your bank has questioned, frozen or closed an account because of their transfers

Check your match against all 44 red flags

Recent cases

Real cases reported by courts, police, regulators and the press. People facing pending charges are presumed innocent, and private victims are not named.

2026-03-24 · Colorado, USA · Over $3.4 million moved
A Colorado woman who had first been a victim of a pig-butchering scheme was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison and ordered to pay $3,112,990.13 restitution for laundering. She moved over $3.4 million from victims through at least 20 bank accounts and 7 crypto accounts to wallets controlled mainly by people in Nigeria, continuing even after local police warned her.
2026-05 · UK, Europe, West Africa · One victim lost over £80,000
Operation Seraphim, led by City of London Police with the NCA and a bank-funded intelligence unit, arrested 31 people across Europe and West Africa for suspected romance fraud; the networks used money mules to move proceeds across borders.

The numbers

  • FBI warned that confidence/romance scammers were using dating sites to recruit money mules, asking victims to open accounts or register companies to move funds (PSA I-080519). (2019) source

If it is happening to you

  1. Refuse to move money, accept checks, or open accounts for anyone you met online.
  2. Tell your bank immediately if you have done so, and stop all transfers.
  3. Report to police/FBI – the FBI says it generally does not seek to prosecute unwitting participants who had no financial gain and stop once they realise.
  4. Keep records of every transaction and instruction.

Where to report

United Statesreportfraud.ftc.gov – FTC – ReportFraud.ftc.govic3.gov – FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) – type www.ic3.gov directly; IC3 never contacts victims by phone, social media or chat
United Kingdomreportfraud.police.uk – Report Fraud (replaced Action Fraud) – reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040stopscamsuk.org.uk/159 – Call 159 to reach your bank's fraud team safely (covers >99% of UK retail current accounts)
Canadareportcyberandfraud.canada.ca – Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre – reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca or 1-888-495-8501, and your local police
Australiascamwatch.gov.au – Scamwatch (scamwatch.gov.au); ReportCyber via cyber.gov.au; IDCARE 1800 595 160 for identity recovery

Related scams

Woman reading a message on her phone in bed

Romance scams

A scammer builds an online relationship using a fake or borrowed identity, often over weeks or months, and invests heavily in attention and affection.

Laptop showing a trading chart

Pig butchering

A friendly or flirtatious contact – often on a dating app, social media or a 'wrong number' text – builds a relationship and casually mentions success trading crypto, gold or forex as a 'side job'.

Young man looking at his phone in the dark

Sextortion and image blackmail

The criminal poses as an attractive person (often a young woman) on a dating app, social media or game, flirts quickly, and persuades the target to exchange nude images or join an intimate video call that is secretly recorded.

Sources

Research compiled 28 September 2026.