Investment and romance scams, including pig butchering

Also called relationship investment scams, these usually follow the same pattern:

1. First contact. A “wrong number” text, a dating app match, or a message on social media or LinkedIn.
2. Building trust. Daily conversations, and sometimes romance. The scammer mentions how well they’re doing from crypto trading.
3. The introduction. They offer to show you how, and send you to a trading website or app, which they control.
4. Fake profits. You’re told to buy crypto (sometimes on Kraken) and send it to the platform. Your balance appears to grow fast, and you may be allowed one small withdrawal to build confidence.
5. The squeeze. When you try to withdraw more, you’re told to pay a “tax”, “fee” or “deposit” first. The payments never end.
6. They disappear, along with everything you sent.

Once crypto leaves your Kraken account, it can’t be recovered.

Scammers pose as investment advisers, brokers or “account managers”, and claim to work for a regulated or well-known firm. Warning signs:

• A cold call, email or direct message you didn’t ask for.
• Guaranteed profits, “bonuses” for depositing more, or pressure to invest straight away.
• You’re told to fund your account only with crypto, sent to an address they give you.
• You’re asked to install remote access software so they can “help”.
• You have to pay a “tax”, “fee” or “commission” before you can withdraw.
• They can’t explain how they got your contact details.

• New coins and token sales: money raised for a project that doesn’t exist, or a token that’s dumped once enough people have bought in.
• Cloud mining: contracts that promise guaranteed returns but aren’t transparent about the real costs or how returns fall over time.
• Trading bots and “AI trading”: software or services that promise automatic profits.
• Pyramid schemes: returns paid from new investors’ money, with rewards for recruiting others.

Not every romance scam involves investing. After building a relationship online, the scammer suddenly needs money for a medical bill, a flight to meet you, or to get out of trouble, and asks for crypto.

• They always have a reason they can’t meet in person or join a live video call.
• Their photos appear elsewhere online under other names. A reverse image search can show this.
• A video call can be faked with AI, so a call alone isn’t proof.

• Never send crypto to a platform or address suggested by someone you only know online.
• Check the firm is registered with your country’s financial regulator, and that the website address matches the one on the regulator’s register.
• Research before you invest. Search the platform’s name with “scam” or “review”. Use search engines for research only, never to navigate to the platform itself.
• If you have to pay to withdraw, it’s a scam. Stop sending money.
• Talk to someone you trust before you invest, and be wary of anyone who tells you to keep it secret.
• Be honest if Kraken asks about a withdrawal. Scammers often coach victims on what to say. Our questions are there to protect you.
• Already sent funds? Report the scam straight away, and follow the steps in Think you’ve been scammed? in Protect yourself from scams. Watch out for recovery scams. See Can I recover crypto lost to a scam?