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People are lonely from the pandemic, and crypto is super hot right now. The combination of the two has really made this a successful scam. Here's how most crypto scams unfold.

Scammers typically try to move the conversation off a dating app and onto WhatsApp — where messages are encrypted and harder for companies or law enforcement agencies to track.

From there, the scammer bombards the victim with flirtatious messages until turning the conversation to cryptocurrency.

The scammer, posing as a successful crypto trader, offers to show the victim how to invest his or her money for .

The scammer helps the victim buy cryptocurrency on a legitimate site and provides instructions for transferring it to a fake cryptocurrency exchange.

The victim’s money appears on the exchange’s website, and he or she starts “investing” it in various crypto assets, under the scammer’s guidance, before the scammer ultimately absconds with the money.

Some victims have described being directed to realistic-looking websites with charts and tickers showing the prices of various crypto assets.

Names and addresses of the fake exchanges are changed frequently, and victims are often allowed to withdraw small amounts of money early on, making them more comfortable depositing larger sums later.

Cryptocurrencies are particularly useful to scammers, experts say, because of the relative privacy they offer. Because there is no central bank or deposit insurance to make victims whole, stolen money usually can’t be recovered.