Talk about a bad date.

A Cambridge resident who matched with an alleged swindler on Tinder ended up transferring more than $500,000 to the suspected fraudster, according to the feds.

The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office has now filed a civil forfeiture action to recover the proceeds of the online investment fraud scheme. The cryptocurrency has an estimated value of about $200,000.

Last spring, the feds launched an investigation into a crypto investment fraud scheme that targeted a local resident. In swindles like this, often called “pig-butchering” schemes, scammers obtain funds from victims using manipulative tactics.

“The scammer establishes a level of trust with a victim in online communications and then entices the victim into investing in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme,” the U.S. Attorney Leah Foley’s office wrote.

“Often the victim is enticed to make additional payments before realizing they are a victim of fraud,” the office added. “The victim’s funds are stolen by the criminal, or criminals, ultimately causing the victim financial and emotional harm. Perpetrators behind these cryptocurrency investment schemes are often located overseas.”

In this case, a Cambridge resident matched with an individual on Tinder who went by the name “Nino Martin.” Martin reportedly suggested they leave Tinder and communicate via WhatsApp.

He allegedly told the victim that he was a financial advisor and could help the victim make money by trading crypto. The victim then followed instructions to create an account and transfer funds to a trading platform that law enforcement believes was fraudulent.

The transfers were flagged as suspicious, so those from the suspected fraudulent trading platform then contacted the victim with instructions on how to evade restrictions.

“The victim then continued to transfer funds to the suspected fraudulent trading platform,” the feds wrote. “The victim transferred approximately $504,353 to the suspected fraudulent trading platform prior to contacting law enforcement.”

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Some victim funds were then traced to a crypto account, which was seized in June 2025.

A civil forfeiture action allows third parties to assert claims to property, which must be resolved before the property can be forfeited to the U.S. and returned to victims.

This is one of several civil forfeiture actions the U.S. Attorney’s office has filed seeking to forfeit crypto traced to fraud schemes targeting Massachusetts victims.

Members of the public who believe they are victims of a cybercrime – including cryptocurrency scams, romance scams, investment scams and business email compromise fraud scams – are urged to email USAMA.CyberTip@usdoj.gov.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald, File)