Foreign 'Seduction' Scammers Trick Israelis Out of Millions in Crypto
Israeli men have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars each after being lured by women abroad who posed as romantic partners and then pushed them into fake cryptocurrency investments. The scheme used messaging apps, remote computer access, and fabricated trading platforms that displayed fake profits but made withdrawals impossible.
One victim, Oren, a single Tel Aviv man who works for a major tech company in central Israel, said he first received a Messenger message about five months ago from a young woman in Russia. Their chat moved from Facebook to WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram, and they even planned a trip to Paris. She then steered him toward crypto investments, promising that an expert would contact him. After a call, he was persuaded to install an investment platform, which gave the scammer remote access to his computer and accounts. Oren said he lost $150,000 and that when he tried to exit, “the girl and the expert disappeared as if they had never existed.”
Another victim, Raz, who works in technology and lives in the Sharon area, lost $450,000 in a similar scam after about eight months of contact with a woman he thought wanted a serious relationship. He later found that withdrawing the money was impossible. “She blocked me and the expert disappeared,” he said, adding that $300,000 was gone before he was also cheated out of another $150,000 by a company that claimed it could recover his money for a fee. A third victim, David from Raanana, said he lost $200,000 and later realized the woman was part of an organized gang of fraudsters.
Lawyers Shagiv and Nir Rotenberg, specialists in international criminal law, said young Israelis are arriving at their office almost daily after falling into the same trap. They said some have lost more than $400,000 and warned that the fraud is growing. Their advice is to verify that any financial firm is regulated by authorities such as the Securities Authority, SEC, or FCA, never send money to private crypto wallets or through exchange shops, and treat guaranteed returns with no risk as a clear warning sign.
They added that the U.S. has already created dedicated FBI and SEC units to fight crypto fraud, seizing billions of dollars in assets in 2023, while Germany has strict advance regulation and a cyber unit in Bamberg that uses international arrest warrants and extraditions. In their view, Israel is lagging behind, and until police and regulators catch up, individuals must protect themselves.
