The SEC is targeting romance scams that lead to "slaughtering pigs" and "farewell to your money"

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Education Advocacy Agency (OIEA) has launched a new public service campaign to raise awareness about related investment fraud.

These scams often start with unsolicited messages via social media or text. Scammers try to build personal connections over time. Once trust is established, the fraudsters will persuade the victim to invest in fraudulent opportunities. These schemes are commonly referred to as romance scams, financial grooming scams, or “pig slaughter” scams.

Previously, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) launched “Dating or Scar?” The campaign to tackle the rise in romance-related investment fraud has resulted in a loss of around $4 billion last year.

The initiative, led by the CFTC and other agencies, highlights the changing tactics used by scammers, including fake profiles and cryptocurrency schemes, often luring victims into fraudulent investments through dating apps and social media.

“Dating or scam?” Joint efforts to warn online dating, social media users of relationship investment scams: https://t.co/N7UIO6N5WC PIC.TWITTER.COM/AVTZ1WOJYP
– CFTC (@CFTC) February 10, 2025

SEC Campaign Warns About Relationship Investment Fraud

As part of the campaign, the SEC has released two animated videos entitled “Don’t open the door to scammers” and “Let’s talk about relationship investment scams.” The campaign also includes a resource page explaining how fraud works, the signs to monitor, and how to protect against them.

Key advice from the SEC includes avoiding answers to unknown messages, being skeptical of unsolicited investment offers regardless of sender, reducing contact information in case of suspected fraud, and reporting incidents to the SEC.

You may find it interesting on FinanceMagnates.com. 32% of scams target social media investors.

The SEC highlights a billion dollar loss from fraud

Acting Chair Mark Ueda highlighted that investor protection remains central to the SEC’s work, noting that these frauds could result in billions of dollars in losses each year.

OIEA Director Lori Schock warned that vague or false messages from unknown contacts are often signs of fraud and should be ignored, blocked or deleted. In addition to videos and educational materials, the campaign starts with an investment quiz and “Relationshiping Investment Scams – “Hello” but could end with saying “goodbye” to your money.