Lake County Sheriff warns of increase in "romance scams"
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Lake County Sheriff is warning about an increase in "romance scams," in which con artists use online dating to scam people looking for love out of money.
Here's how it works: You meet someone on a dating app or social media. The scammer befriends the victim and a "romance" develops, and at some point the scammer convinces the victim to send money.
In a modern twist, the Lake County Sheriff reports now scammers are encouraging their prey to invest in cryptocurrency from legitimate exchanges.
At some point, the scammer, after building trust in the person they met online then convinces the victim to trade on a different crypto platform, but that new platform is bogus and the scammer then steals the cryptocurrency.
Of course, the romantic relationship never really existed in the first place, and that disappears as well.
"If you are unsure of the legitimacy of a cryptocurrency exchange, you should conduct research and look for reviews. If you are unable to find any data about the exchange, it is likely fraudulent. As always, everyone should be extremely cautious of those you meet online," sheriff's officials said in a press release.
We've reported extensively on romance scams in recent months.
Check out the three stories below to see how real human beings in our area wound up with a broken heart and a lot poorer.
Plainfield woman conned out of money by man she thought was courting her on Facebook Dating