Romance Scam Private Investigator: Verify an Online Match Before You Send Money

Why Request an Online Dating Investigation?

• Protect yourself: Make decisions based on verified information before sending money, traveling, or sharing personal data.
• Verify important claims: Check identity, location, employment, business, marital-status, and background details when lawful records are available.
• Document inconsistencies: Organize profiles, messages, dates, photographs, payment records, and research findings into a clear chronology.
• Support reporting: Provide organized information that may assist an attorney, financial institution, dating platform, or law-enforcement agency.
• Reduce further harm: Identify urgent security steps if accounts, identification, devices, or finances may be at risk.

If You Suspect a Romance Scam

Stop sending money, preserve all communications and receipts, change compromised passwords, contact the relevant bank or payment provider promptly, and consider reporting the matter through FTC ReportFraud or the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. Immediate danger or threats should be reported to local law enforcement.

Verifying an Online Match in Florida, North Carolina and the Caribbean

JRS Investigations is licensed in Florida and North Carolina and coordinates assignments in the Caribbean, which lets us check the claims romance scammers most often make about where they live and work.

Claims about Florida

When a contact says they own a Florida business or hold a Florida professional license, the claim can usually be tested. Companies registered in Florida appear on Sunbiz, and many professions, from contractors to nurses, can be checked through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation or the Department of Health. County property and court records can confirm or contradict a claimed home address. Florida’s large retiree population makes it a frequent target, and when the person being targeted is 60 or older, the conduct may also fall under Florida’s elder exploitation law, section 825.103.

Claims about North Carolina

For a contact who claims to live or work in North Carolina, the Secretary of State business registry, county Register of Deeds records, state licensing boards and court indexes are the starting points. North Carolina residents can also report romance and investment scams to the North Carolina Department of Justice Consumer Protection Division.

Claims about being overseas or in the Caribbean

Many scam profiles say the person is working offshore, deployed overseas or living on an island, which conveniently explains why they cannot meet or video chat. Where a contact names a specific Caribbean business, address or employer, JRS can coordinate lawful local verification of whether that business or address exists and is connected to the person. A claim that cannot be verified anywhere is itself an important finding.

Related services: fraud investigations, background checks and Caribbean investigations.

Crypto Investment Romance Scams and Fake Recovery Offers

A growing share of romance fraud now ends with an investment pitch instead of a request for emergency money. After weeks of friendly messages, often after moving the conversation from a dating app to WhatsApp or Telegram, the contact introduces a cryptocurrency or trading platform, shows screenshots of large gains and encourages small deposits that appear to grow. When the victim tries to withdraw, the platform demands taxes, fees or a larger deposit. Law enforcement often calls this pig butchering.

Victims are then frequently contacted by a second wave of scammers offering to recover the lost money for an upfront fee, sometimes posing as lawyers, government agencies or investigators. Be wary of anyone who guarantees recovery. JRS can organize the wallet addresses, transaction IDs, platform website addresses and payment trail you already have for your bank, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center and any exchange that may hold the funds, but recovery depends on law enforcement or legal process, not on a private fee.

Who Checks Your Online Match

JRS Investigations is owned and run by Jody Stacy, a private investigator and former police officer at both the state and federal level, with more than 25 years of experience. Florida agency license A 2400330 and North Carolina PI license 906236. Recent requests have included reviewing a passport and license a match sent to prove who they were, verifying the social media of a dating-app match before a first date, and checking out a man a Palm Beach County client met on a dating site. Florida work is billed at $125 per hour, and most identity checks are research-only, so they take hours, not weeks.

Questions People Ask About Their Online Match

My match sent a photo of a passport or driver license. Can you tell if it is real?

We can check the document for signs of editing and test the name, date of birth and address on it against public records and other sources. A genuine-looking ID can still be stolen from a real person, so we also check whether that person matches the profile photos and the story you have been told. Private investigators cannot query government ID databases.

They say they are deployed overseas, working on an oil rig or a doctor with an aid group. Can you check that?

Those are among the most common cover stories, because they explain why the person cannot meet or video chat. We check the employer, license and business claims that can be tested. Service members do not need to pay for leave, phone time or travel home, so any request for money for those reasons is a serious warning sign.

Will the person find out I am having them checked?

No. Identity and background research is done quietly from records and open sources. JRS does not contact the person unless you ask us to and we agree on how, and your name stays confidential.

Should I confront them or stop talking first?

Stop sending money and do not tell them you are having them checked. Keep every message, profile link, photo and payment receipt; that material is what we, your bank and law enforcement will need.

Can you trace cryptocurrency I sent to a scammer?

Blockchain transactions are public, so the path of the funds from your wallet can often be followed to an exchange or service. Identifying the person behind a wallet usually requires a subpoena or a law enforcement request to that exchange. JRS prepares a clear transaction summary your attorney or the investigating agency can act on.

Someone offered to recover my lost money for a fee. Is that real?

Treat it as a likely second scam. Legitimate agencies do not contact victims asking for upfront recovery fees, gift cards or crypto payments. JRS can check who is behind the offer before you pay anything.