• Emotional and psychological trauma

• Loss of large sums of money

• Exposure to identity theft

• Exploitation of private images or chats

• Forming emotional connections with strangers online

• Believing in too-good-to-be-true investment opportunities

• Sharing personal details or photos

• Trusting someone without verifying their identity

• Be cautious of online strangers professing love quickly

• Never mix money with long-distance relationships.

• Avoid sharing financial information or investing in platforms recommended by online friends

• Reverse search photos to check for fake profiles

• Screen capture the potential scammer’s picture and use reverse image searches to see if the photos have been used in other scams or by other people.

• Talk to family before making major financial decisions

• Check the trading website you’re sent to see how long it has been registered at lookup.icann.org.

• Report the possible fraud on cybercrime.gov.in

Sneha, a 19-year-old college student, met “Aditya” on a language learning app. He soon became her daily confidant and convinced her of a great crypto investment. Trusting him, she shared money from her savings. After a few weeks, his profile vanished—and so did her money. When Sneha finally told her parents, they supported her in filing a cybercrime report.