Helping Victims Recover From Romance Scams and Pig Butchering Fraud
Romance scams can cause devastating financial and emotional harm. A scammer may spend weeks or months building trust before asking for money, encouraging an investment, or directing a victim to a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform.
At Kingswell Law, we help victims understand their legal options after money has been lost through romance fraud, online relationship scams, and pig butchering investment scams.
These cases can involve cryptocurrency transfers, wire transfers, bank payments, fraudulent investment platforms, payment applications, and accounts controlled by individuals or organizations located in multiple jurisdictions.
Our approach focuses on preserving evidence, understanding the movement of funds, identifying potentially responsible parties, and determining which legal and financial recovery options may be available.
Romance Scam and Pig Butchering Cases We Handle
Romance fraud can take many forms. Common cases may include:
- Fake online relationships and long-distance romance scams
- Dating-app and social-media relationship scams
- Fake military, overseas-worker, or professional identities
- Pig butchering investment scams
- Cryptocurrency investment scams involving a romantic relationship
- Fraudulent trading and investment platforms
- Wire transfers and bank payments made after manipulation or deception
- Requests for cryptocurrency deposits into scam-controlled wallets
- Blackmail, extortion, and financial coercion connected to an online relationship
How Romance Scam Recovery Can Work
Every fraud case is different, and there is no guaranteed method of recovering stolen funds. However, acting quickly can help preserve evidence and identify potential recovery opportunities.
- Preserve the evidence. Save messages, emails, profiles, screenshots, payment records, transaction information, and communications with the scammer.
- Determine how the money was transferred. The recovery strategy may differ depending on whether funds were sent by cryptocurrency, wire transfer, bank payment, or another payment method.
- Trace the movement of funds. Where cryptocurrency is involved, blockchain analysis may help establish the movement of funds between wallet addresses and exchanges.
- Identify potential recovery targets. Depending on the circumstances, investigators may seek to identify individuals, businesses, exchanges, accounts, or other entities connected to the movement of funds.
- Evaluate legal remedies. Potential strategies may include preservation requests, subpoenas, negotiations, regulatory complaints, and civil litigation where appropriate.
Cryptocurrency and Wire Transfer Romance Scams
Many modern romance scams involve cryptocurrency or financial transfers. A scammer may first establish an emotional connection and later introduce an investment opportunity, cryptocurrency trading platform, or urgent financial problem.
If cryptocurrency was involved, our cryptocurrency scam recovery practice provides additional information about blockchain tracing, cryptocurrency transactions, exchange records, and digital asset recovery strategies.
If the money was sent by bank or wire transfer, our wire transfer fraud practice area explains additional considerations that may apply to fraudulent transfers.
Romance scams can also overlap with broader investment scam recovery cases, particularly when the scammer uses a relationship to persuade a victim to invest through a fraudulent platform.
Evidence That May Help Your Case
Do not assume that messages or online profiles are unimportant. Seemingly minor details can help establish the identity used by the scammer, the timeline of the relationship, or the movement of money.
- WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, email, and social-media messages
- Dating-app conversations and profile information
- Names, aliases, usernames, telephone numbers, and email addresses
- Photographs and identity documents supplied by the scammer
- Bank statements and wire-transfer confirmations
- Cryptocurrency wallet addresses and transaction hashes
- Records from cryptocurrency exchanges
- Investment-platform account information
- Payment instructions and invoices
- Screenshots of websites, trading dashboards, or account balances
Related Practice Areas
Romance scams frequently overlap with other categories of fraud. Depending on how the scam unfolded, one of these related practice areas may also apply to your case:
- NFT and Digital Asset Scam — for cases where a scammer directed a victim toward fraudulent NFT purchases or digital asset schemes.
- Real Estate Scam — for cases involving fraudulent real estate investment pitches made within an online relationship.
- Phishing and Identity Scam — for cases where a scammer obtained personal or financial information through deceptive messages or fake profiles.
- Forex Binary Scam — for cases where a romantic relationship was used to introduce a fraudulent forex or binary options platform.
- Business Email Compromise Scam — for cases involving fraudulent payment requests sent through compromised or impersonated email accounts.
You can also view all practice areas handled by Kingswell Law.
- Victim representation across jurisdictions
- Bank and crypto transaction tracing
- Coordination with cyber and financial-crime units
- Discreet, victim-centered approach
- Evidence gathering and scammer identification
- Civil recovery strategies where appropriate
Reported Case Result: Kingswell Law reports recovering $982,000 for a client defrauded over a nine-month romance scam involving a person falsely claiming to be a U.S. Army officer stationed overseas.
Results vary depending on the facts, evidence, jurisdictions, parties involved, and other circumstances. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Romance Scam Recovery FAQ
Can a lawyer help me recover money lost in a romance scam?
A lawyer may be able to help identify recovery options depending on how the money was transferred, where the funds went, what evidence is available, and the jurisdictions involved. Potential strategies can include evidence preservation, transaction tracing, identifying responsible parties, contacting financial institutions or cryptocurrency exchanges, and pursuing civil remedies where appropriate.
What is a pig butchering scam?
A pig butchering scam is a form of fraud in which a scammer develops a relationship with a victim and gradually builds trust before persuading the victim to send money or cryptocurrency, often through a fraudulent investment or trading platform.
I sent cryptocurrency to a romance scammer. Can the transaction be traced?
Many cryptocurrency transactions are recorded on public blockchains. Blockchain analysis can therefore help investigators follow the movement of funds between wallet addresses and, in some circumstances, identify transfers involving cryptocurrency exchanges or other identifiable entities. Tracing does not guarantee recovery.
What should I do immediately after discovering a romance scam?
Stop sending additional money and preserve evidence. Save messages, emails, screenshots, transaction records, wallet addresses, payment instructions, website addresses, and other information connected to the scam. Depending on the circumstances, promptly contacting your bank, payment provider, cryptocurrency exchange, and appropriate authorities may also be appropriate.
Can money sent by wire transfer in a romance scam be recovered?
Recovery may be possible in some circumstances, but it depends on factors including how the transfer was made, how quickly the fraud was discovered, whether the receiving funds remain identifiable, and the jurisdictions involved.
What evidence should I keep after a romance scam?
Keep messages, emails, photographs, profile information, phone numbers, usernames, website addresses, payment instructions, bank records, wire confirmations, cryptocurrency transaction hashes, wallet addresses, exchange records, screenshots, and documents provided by the scammer.
Take Action After a Romance Scam
If you have lost money to a romance scam, pig butchering scheme, or fraudulent online relationship, preserving evidence and understanding your recovery options can be important.
