Multiple FBI field offices, led by San Francisco, issued advisories warning of a seasonal uptick in romance and relationship investment scams that now incorporate generative AI, deepfakes, and voice cloning. The notices urged prevention measures, including reporting to IC3 and never sending money or crypto to people met only online.

FBI field offices, including the San Francisco division, issued public advisories ahead of Valentine’s Day about a rise in romance and relationship investment scams that blend emotional manipulation with fake crypto investment platforms. The notices describe scammers increasingly using generative AI to produce convincing profiles, create deepfake images and videos, and synthesize voices to impersonate romantic partners or trusted intermediaries. Advisories stress common red flags such as rapid declarations of affection, pressure to move conversations off mainstream platforms, requests for money or cryptocurrency, and sudden claims of urgent investment opportunities. The FBI recommended concrete prevention steps: do not send funds or crypto to online-only relationships, verify identities independently, enable platform safety settings, and report suspected frauds promptly to IC3 and local law enforcement. The warnings also emphasize the risk of re-victimization via recovery-fee scams and call for public awareness campaigns to protect older and more vulnerable adults during seasonal surges in confidence fraud.