The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Office of Customer Education and Outreach is leading national and international awareness efforts to warn the public about relationship investment scams, a form of romance fraud estimated to cost Americans USD 10 billion each year. The DatingOrDefrauding? social media campaign urges people to be skeptical of requests from new online friends or romantic interests, particularly prompts to send crypto assets or other payments to invest via fake crypto websites. The campaign highlights common red flags including an online contact who cannot meet in person, pushes conversations onto encrypted messaging apps, claims to be or know an expert crypto trader, or offers to help the victim trade or invest money. The effort is being run with a broad coalition of U.S. federal and state agencies and non-governmental bodies including the Department of Justice, FBI, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, National Credit Union Administration, Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, National Futures Association and the North American Association of Securities Administrators. The CFTC also noted collaboration with the International Organization of Securities Commissions on a global initiative, describing these schemes as often involving fabricated profiles and AI-enabled deception that ultimately steers victims to fraudulent trading platforms controlled by organized criminal networks. The Valentine’s week initiative will run from Wednesday through Saturday and builds on a coordinated educational outreach effort conducted in October 2025 involving 16 jurisdictions across five continents. The CFTC directed the public to additional resources on CFTC.gov/LearnAndProtect.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission 2026-02-09
Commodity Futures Trading Commission leads DatingOrDefrauding? campaign warning relationship investment scams cost Americans an estimated USD 10 billion a year
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Office of Customer Education and Outreach is leading a campaign to warn against relationship investment scams, costing Americans USD 10 billion annually, through the DatingOrDefrauding? social media initiative. This effort, in collaboration with U.S. federal and state agencies and international bodies, highlights red flags of scams involving crypto investments and aims to educate the public during Valentine's week.