Friendship Scams
11/19/2025
Friendship Scams
We’ve discussed romance scams on the blog before, but there is a new iteration making the rounds: the friendship scam. These scams are just as insidious, as they prey on vulnerable people looking for support or community. While the internet can be an excellent place to meet people with common interests, this scam makes it hard to differentiate between genuine connection and fraud.
Much like the romance scam, criminals use the human desire for connection in order to perpetrate the friendship scam. However, the friendship scam is seeing more success because people are far more trusting of people they consider “friends” than they are of people they consider potential romantic partners.
Scammers often look for people in hobby or support groups. This makes it easier to establish common ground with potential victims. They may pretend to be going through a similar struggle or use a shared affiliation to gain your trust. This can be anything from classic car lovers, sober support groups, or even religious denomination groups. They establish this bond through direct messages (DMs), comments on posts, or even text messages. (Remember those wrong number text scams?) From there, they use a tactic called “mirroring” to appear to be in similar circumstances as you. This is meant to form a deep emotional bond quickly.
However, it is important to keep in mind that these scammers can be incredibly patient. They may form a relationship with their victims over the course of weeks or months. Eventually, the scammer may want to move the conversation to harder to trace apps like WhatsApp or Telegram. Once they feel there is enough of a relationship, they will ask for money. This can manifest in a variety of ways. They may say they have an investment opportunity, a family emergency, or want to sell you an item you are both interested in. Like with most scammers, they will ask for the money in unconventional ways like cryptocurrency or gift cards. (Please note that some scammers will actually meet their victims in person to acquire the money!)
In this situation, the criminal counts on the victim being far less skeptical of a friendship than they may have been of a potential romantic partner. After all, in the twenty-first century it is quite common for people to have online friends all over the world! While we are not saying you cannot have online friends, it is important to build these online connections safely to avoid friendship scams. Here’s how:
- Be suspicious of people that seem to be uncannily similar to you or be in too similar a situation.
- If someone tries to form a deep connection quickly or tries to move to different platforms to speak, proceed with caution.
- If your online friend asks you to keep the new relationship a secret or avoid more personal forms of contact, you should pause and ask yourself why.
- Never send money. Period.
- Rely on established relationships for advice or second opinions, sometimes people removed from the emotions of a new relationship can see things we do not.
If you become suspicious that a person you are speaking with online is a scammer, cut off contact. You can also report their account to the platform for review.
Social media is an excellent place to connect with people all around the world! But it can also be a gateway for bad actors to gain information and easily contact potential victims. Vigilance is key!
Sources:
Made a New Online Friend? Beware of Affinity Fraud
Does a friend you met online need money for an emergency? That’s a scam | Consumer Advice