Romance baiting is the term INTERPOL recommended in December 2024 for scams that use a relationship to take money, in place of "pig butchering", which shames victims. Flggd treats it as the romance arc of financial grooming.
Someone you meet online becomes close quickly. They are attentive, they message every day, and they seem to understand you. They cannot meet, and video calls fail or are cut short. Then something happens to them: a medical bill, a frozen account, a customs fee, a ticket home. Each request is small next to what you feel you share.
The match. A dating app, social media or a wrong-number text.
Closeness, fast. Daily contact, affection early, plans for a future together.
The distance. Work abroad, the military, an oil rig. A reason they can never meet or call properly.
The first request. A small, urgent sum, framed as temporary.
The pattern. One crisis follows another, each bigger. Sometimes an investment appears instead.
The pressure. Guilt, secrecy, anger if you hesitate or mention family.
The end, and the second round. They vanish, or someone offers to find them or your money for a fee.
Have you seen them on a live video that ran normally? Has every plan to meet fallen through? Have they asked for money, or for help moving money? Have they asked you to keep the relationship from family or your bank? The feelings can be real on your side and the relationship still be a scam.
Before any money: do not send any, however urgent the story. Talk to someone you trust.
If you have sent money: call your bank now and stop sending more.
If they ask you to receive or move money for them: refuse. It can make you part of a crime.
If someone offers to find them or recover your money for a fee: that is a scam.
Then report it
Send yourself this page so you can forward it, or read it later when you are not standing in a shop.
Email it to myself
