Just as a farmer fattens up a pig for slaughter, in the scheme a scammer gains a victim's trust over a long period of time, fattening them up, then goes in for the kill by stealing their life savings.
The FBI estimates the scams cost Americans nearly $4 billion in 2023 alone.
Erika DeMask had saved nearly $1 million in investment accounts; she is now in financial ruin.
"I had to tell my kids because they had no idea I had that kind of money," she said.
In fact, she was forced to sell her Lombard, Illinois home and everything in it.
"This is my garage sale. The beginning of a mess," DeMask said. "And it's hard because a lot of the stuff; the glasses here belonged to my husband."
Her husband passed away decades ago and recently DeMask met a man online.
"He said that he loved me," she said. "Once he sent me a huge bouquet of flowers and the FBI said they were shocked that he did that."
But the FBI said that tactic is just part of the fattening up stage.
"Fraudsters are going to fatten up the victims by putting more enticing the victims to put more money into an investment," said James Barnacle, deputy assistant director of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. "And then they're going to slaughter them by walking away and stealing their money."
DeMask said her scammer was both charming and convincing,
"He's working on an oil rig and something broke down. Can I send him $20,000? And I said, 'Whoa.' I said, 'You know what? I need to pray about this,'" she said. "The second time I sent $35,000. Then two weeks later, another $35,000. His pastor is sending him $250,000. Can I match it? Which was a dumb thing."
Over time that money sent reached nearly $1 million. DeMask said the scammer told her she would get double her money back in his investments. Instead, she now owes money back to her bank; cash which she took from her home equity loan. She also must pay taxes on her investment withdrawals.
"There's $400 left. That's it, $400," she said.
She and her son said the money was taken out and sent via cashier's checks or wire transfers through Fifth Third Bank.
"She was sending $100,000, $300,000, $50,000 at a time, and it was never brought up and stopped and checked," said Ed DeMask.
They said when they filed reports with the FBI and Secret Service, agents told them that bankers should have spotted unusual patterns.
"I kept transferring money from Fifth Third from the investment accounts, they never questioned, 'Why are you closing this whole account?'" Erika DeMask said.
But in this letter to DeMask, Fifth Third said it asks a series of questions that the customer must answer before a wire transfer is sent and that her answers provided "did not raise concern for potential fraud."
Fifth Third told the I-Team, "The Bank meets applicable Red Flags provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)."
The International Criminal Police Organization, or INTERPOL, said many of these crimes originate out of scam compounds in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world.
The FBI said if you wire money or crypto there is little chance you will get it back, but if you report it to the FBI quickly, there is some hope.
"Our recovery asset team has had tremendous success in the last several years and recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for victims of," Barnacle said.
Authorities were unable to recover DeMask's losses, but she says what hurts more is letting go of her home, furniture, and other long-time memories, like a chalkboard built in the garage.
"This was here when we moved here and my grandson, Teddy, he's the only one that ever wrote on there. And every time I looked at it, I have a hard time. A lot of things are going to be gone and its hard," she said.
To avoid becoming a victim of a scammer, you should never send money to anyone you meet online, ever.
Also remember that financial institutions may allow you to add trusted contacts to your account so their bank can reach out to family members if there is suspicious activity.
For More Information: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau