ELIZABETH, Colo. — Romance and investment scams ranked top 10 for the number of complaints to the Federal Bureau of Investigations in 2024. A Colorado man tells News5 he was a victim of both at the same time.
Josh Kern is a Colorado-based author with a passion for storytelling. He told News5 he's published between 24 to 26 books, generally with some form of fantasy stitched throughout.
“My parents were fairly poor, so reading about any kind of fantasy or any style of book was my escape growing up, and it was really something I wanted to do," Kern said.
He ventured into the world of online dating while focusing on writing his latest book.
"We were talking on the dating app. We got along. We decided to move to the next step, which was off the dating app, which is kind of normal,” he said.
Kern said he and his match began communicating on the private messaging app WhatsApp, and noted the woman he was speaking to didn’t display the typical signs of a “scammer.”
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“Right away, we had a video call, so that kind of, in my mind, ruled her out as a scammer because generally scammers — they don't show pictures. They don't do video calls,” Kern said. “This continued until she told me about some investment thing she had going on, which was fairly normal because we were talking about how we made money. I was an author, but I also do stocks and dividend investments.”
He started investing in the cryptocurrency website suggested by the woman, starting with a $5,000 investment.
“So I was like, ‘OK this is working. Let me add in a little more.’ Nothing major. I think another thousand or two. Over the next few weeks, we increased the amount to another $10,000 - $12,000, something like that, but she kept pushing for more,” he said.
He eventually increased the investment amount to about $20,000. He did this for a couple of reasons, he said.
“I mean, I was enamored with her. She was very cute and out of my league,” he said. "And I was seeing a major return on my investment."
After depositing more than $100,000, he tried to withdraw his funds, but that’s when he discovered the account had been frozen.
“When I mentioned what was going on, she kind of disappeared, and that was the last I'd heard from her,” Kern said.
He researched an online "scam recovery team" to try to get his money back after believing he had been scammed. He found the website in a Google search. The people on the website told Kern he would have to pay for their services.
"At that point, I had maybe $500 in my account," Kern said.
So Kern borrowed about $50,000 from his family members to pay for the alleged recovery services. To his surprise, the website took that money, too.
“That website was completely fake. A scam. Everything. But there's nothing I can do because the website doesn't exist," Kern said.
He filed reports with the FBI, Colorado Attorney General's office, the Federal Trade Commission, and other consumer protection agencies. However, he tells News5, he did not get a response.
Kern said the amount of money that he lost involving the woman and on the fake recovery website combined was nearly $160,000.
“That was my entire life savings right there,” Kern said. “After it was all done, I still questioned for weeks afterward whether or not she was involved. That's how good of a hook she was.”
He said he still desires to be in a relationship, but admits it will be a challenge to trust a significant other again.
His top priority is making sure he pays his parents back because the money he borrowed from them was from their retirement fund.
“If you admit to getting scammed, people think you’re an idiot, that you don't know what you're doing, that you're a hillbilly,” Kern said. “But I got my parents involved. I didn’t have a lot of choices. I needed to step outside of my wheelhouse and do things that I’m a little uncomfortable with.”
Kern isn't alone in this situation. Most people don’t report fraud because they don’t know how or because they are ashamed, according to the FBI.
WATCH: Romance scams listed among top 20 scams reported in the US
In 2024, the FBI says more than $672,009,052 were reported in losses for romance or confidence scams, and $6,570,639,864 for investment scams.
The FBI advises the following to avoid becoming the victim of a romance scam.
- Never send money to anyone you have only communicated with online or by phone.
- Take things slowly and ask a ton of questions
- Research the person's photo and name
- If someone you meet online needs your bank account information, the FBI warns that they are likely using your account to carry out additional theft and fraud schemes.
Once your money is gone, it's almost impossible to get it back. However, it's crucial to report any scam you experience. You can file a report with the FBI and other consumer protection agencies at the links below.
- Federal Trade Commission
- Colorado Attorney General's Office
- Colorado Springs police
- Better Business Bureau
- FBI – Internet Crime Complaint Center
“You don't normally see the sophisticated scams where they're combining the two," Kern said. "Scams these days, people think about them as, ‘I need a target gift card or send me this money over wire transfer.’ They don’t think of it as, ‘I'm going to reel you along for two months, and then I'm going to pull you into a separate scam entirely, so you almost don’t think I'm involved.”
This story was written by KOAA News 5 Consumer Reporter Kierra Sam. Have a story? Send an email to Kierra.sam@koaa.com.
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