Lake Co. Resident Loses $3M In 'Romance Scam:' Police

LAKE COUNTY, IL — The Lake County Sheriff's Office is urging those who use dating apps to take caution as two people were recently scammed out of a significant amount of money, including one Lake County resident who lost more than $3 million, authorities said Wednesday. The other Lake County resident lost $100,000 after falling victim to the "romance-based scam."

Authorities say the scammer typically target people on dating applications or social media applications, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

They lead the other person to believe they are in a legitimate relationship and then convinces them to buy popular cryptocurrencies from legitimate cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Coinbase or Binance, according to the news release.

"The victim generally does not suspect anything is wrong at this point, as they are able to see the cryptocurrency in their account," according to the sheriff's office.

The scammer then talks the person into trading the cryptocurrency to a different cryptocurrency exchange, convincing them they'd make more money. These secondary exchanges are often fraudulent but have websites that appear to be a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange, according to authorities.

The scammer will give them details on where to send the cryptocurrency, which often involves a cryptocurrency “wallet.”

"And once they send their crypto to these unknown cryptocurrency wallets, it is extremely difficult to track its whereabouts or for law-enforcement to develop a suspect," according to the sheriff's office.

Authorities are urging all to do their research and look for reviews of cryptocurrency sites if they are not sure if its legitimate.

"If you are unable to find any data about the exchange, it is likely fraudulent," according to police.