Romance and Pig-Butchering Scam Recovery: Can Your Bank Be Made to Pay?

Image: a heart-shaped padlock · Credit: DigitalFuture123 · CC BY 2.0 · source

Quick answer: If you sent money to someone you met online who turned out to be a scammer, recovery depends heavily on how you paid. A bank transfer you did not authorize has stronger protection than money you personally approved sending, even under deception. Report immediately to your bank, file at ic3.gov, and be realistic: recovery is not common, but reporting fast is what gives you a chance and helps stop the network.

Romance scams, including the long-con "pig-butchering" version that moves you toward a fake investment platform, are built on trust, which is what makes them devastating and what makes recovery hard. Here is what genuinely helps, and what to watch out for next.

Does your bank have to pay you back?

It depends on how you sent the money, and whether you authorized the transfer yourself:

• Unauthorized transactions (someone accessed your account without your approval) carry the strongest protection under US electronic-transfer rules, and banks generally must investigate and can be required to reimburse you.
• Transactions you personally approved, even because you were deceived into thinking you were helping a partner or investing, are treated differently. Banks and card networks are not automatically required to refund money you chose to send, though disputes are still worth filing.
• Card payments may qualify for a chargeback if you paid by credit or debit card and the merchant or platform was fraudulent; this depends on your card issuer's policies.

Do not assume you have no options because you approved the transfer. File the dispute and let your bank or card issuer make the determination.

What to do now

1. Stop sending money immediately and cut off contact, even if the "relationship" pressures you to keep going.
2. Contact your bank or card issuer and report the transaction as fraud; ask about a dispute, chargeback, or wire recall depending on the payment method.
3. File a complaint at ic3.gov with every detail: names used, payment platforms, wallet addresses if crypto was involved, screenshots of conversations, and dates.
4. Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
5. If a fake investment platform was involved, stop trying to "withdraw" through it, further payments (fees, taxes) are the scam continuing, not a path to your money.

Watch for the second scam

The FTC warns that scam victims, including romance-scam victims, are frequently targeted again by "recovery agents," "asset recovery specialists," or people posing as law enforcement, all asking for an upfront fee to get your money back. No legitimate agency or recovery service charges a fee for this. Treat any such offer as a second scam.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get my money back from a romance scam? It depends on the payment method and whether the transaction was authorized. Recovery is uncommon but not impossible, especially if reported within days.

I sent money via wire or crypto. Any hope? These are the hardest to reverse. Report immediately to your bank or the exchange and to ic3.gov; fast reporting is what gives investigators the best chance to trace or freeze funds.

Will my bank refund me since I was tricked? Not automatically. Banks distinguish between unauthorized transactions and payments you approved, even under deception. File a dispute regardless and let the bank decide.

Someone offered to recover my money for a fee. Should I pay them? No. This is almost always a follow-up scam targeting victims a second time.

Where do I report a romance or pig-butchering scam? File at ic3.gov and reportfraud.ftc.gov, and report the platform or app used to contact you.

Related: sent crypto to a scammer, sent money by wire, and how pig-butchering investment scams work.

If you have lost money to a scam, you are not alone. See our cybercrime help hub for step-by-step reporting and recovery guides.