It’s one of the top ways to connect, but unfortunately, dating apps are another avenue for online scammers to take advantage of others looking for romance.
CONNECTICUT (WABC) — Valentine’s Day is next Friday! So, if you’re single and looking for love, you may be trying to find your soulmate online.
It’s one of the top ways to connect, but unfortunately, dating apps are another avenue for online scammers to take advantage of others looking for romance.
Romance scams are all over the headlines often involving international rings of criminals to trick victims into sending them a lot of money.
A Connecticut woman lost close to $1 million.
Who doesn’t want to be loved? These types of scams are so successful because many of us are vulnerable, and it’s not a quick, hit send me money for a plane ticket, and then they disappear.
These scammers have been chatting you up for years. Criminals have turned to cryptocurrency. anonymous and untraceable. They love bomb you in a crypto crush which breaks your heart and wallet.
“I look back now, oh my God, but I always take care of everyone and I said now it’s my turn, someone’s going to take care of me,” said Jackie Crenshaw, a romance scam victim.
Crenshaw had it all, a successful high-powered career, great friends, but no one to share it with.
So, at 60, she decided to try online dating for the first time. Choosing the site BLK and meeting who she thought was a widower with two kids.
“Did he love bomb you?” 7 On Your Side’s Nina Pineda asked.
“Oh yeah,” Crenshaw said. “We prayed together. He taught me how to pray.”
She was in heaven! He would send photos of himself and his kids and trinkets, and even pizza when Crenshaw, who runs the radiology department at a Connecticut hospital, said she was hungry.
“Then he would call morning noon and night,” she said.
“Did you ever FaceTime?” Pineda asked.
“No. That’s why it was crazy. Always by phone,” Crenshaw said.
That should have been a red flag. but she was blinded by love.
“How long into the relationship were you when he asked for money and what was it for?” Pineda asked.
“About two months. We talked about investing in cryptocurrency,” Crenshaw said.
She sent $40,000 initially and was provided screenshots showing the mad profits of her cryptocurrency investment.
“That was telling me I was making all this profit. That’s what encouraged me to invest more,” she said.
“You lost close to a million dollars?” Pineda asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“Did he wipe out your 401k savings? Everything?” Pineda asked.
“Yeah,” Crenshaw said.
She has this warning for other people looking for love in all the wrong places.
“Unless you cannot physically see their face. do not proceed, that’s the mistake I made, they rail you in,” Crenshaw said.
Crenshaw even did a reverse image search on the picture of who she thought she was falling in love with.
The stolen photo comes of a handsome bearded man on Pinterest.
The scammer took pictures off social media to pretend he was that man.
7 On Your Side interviewed two men whose pictures were stolen and then reposted on dozens of websites.
An influencer named Rob, who is happily married, his pictures were used to lure multiple women into thinking they were talking to him.
The other was an army sergeant, who several women thought they were marrying. They both came forward to warn people online that it was not them.
The big takeaway is to stay on the platform to speak to your dates.
Crenshaw moved off the dating website BLK to speak to her newfound lover. The site warns users to communicate only through the app because it employs AI monitoring software for suspicious activity and photo verifying.
Never send money, crypto, gift cards, bank or wire transfers, or anything else to anyone you haven’t met in person.
Crenshaw was being shown her investment getting bigger and bigger on a cryptocurrency site that through our research doesn’t even exist.
7 On Your Side talked to cybersecurity expert Adam Levin, the former New Jersey Commissioner of Consumer Affairs about how this works.
“It means that they fatten you up because they get you hooked on cryptocurrency investment, and then they steal your money and disappear. And how they how they do it is, they get you involved, and they help you open an account. Oftentimes it’s on a legitimate site. You make some money. They even let you take the money out, but then they kind of wet your whistle. You get really excited about it, and then all you want to do is do more and more and more,” Levin said.
On Monday, 7 On Your Side will have more on this active investigation. The Connecticut State Police are investigating and Crenshaw is being asked to help testify as legislators in Connecticut want to go after the scammers’ bank accounts.
Online Safety Tips:
https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2024/02/love-stinks-when-scammer-involved
https://www.blk-app.com/masp/en-us/blk/safety-tips
ALSO READ: Gold bar scam swindles woman out of $700K life savings
7 On Your Side’s Nina Pineda has more on the gold bars scam.
———-
SHARE YOUR STORY
Do you have an issue with a company that you haven’t been able to resolve? If so, 7 On Your Side wants to help you!
Fill out the form below or email your questions, issues, or story ideas by filling out the form below or by emailing 7OnYourSideNina@abc.com. All emails MUST INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND CELLPHONE NUMBER. Without a phone number, 7 On Your Side will not be able to respond.
Copyright © 2025 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.
It’s one of the top ways to connect, but unfortunately, dating apps are another avenue for online scammers to take advantage of others looking for romance.
Discover more from World Byte News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
