MetaMask now prevents romance and investment scams before they happen

Some of the most devastating financial scams happen in a seemingly simple way: by building a false sense of trust. A stranger who becomes a friend, then a confidant, then the person encouraging you to move your savings into a "can't-miss" opportunity. By the time you open your wallet to send, the scammer has already done the hard part. The transaction is just the final step.

That’s exactly where we're adding new MetaMask security protections, to interrupt losing funds to a scammer when it matters most: right before you hit send.

A social scam that relies on patience, not code

Investment and romance scams are often so costly because they're so human. There's no clever exploit. Instead, someone takes their time to work their way in and get to know the victim. They'll spend weeks, sometimes months, becoming a friend or dangling an opportunity, walking them through each step, and turning up the pressure right at the end. In 2025, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) tied $7.2 billion in losses to crypto investment scams in the US alone. Because people are talked into these transfers rather than hacked, the usual security tools, the ones hunting for malicious code or blocklisted contracts, tend to wave them right through.

How romance and investment scam protection works

Most wallet scam protections do one of two things. They show you a warning message and trust you to catch the attack on your own. Or, they block the transaction outright and make the call for you. We wanted something in between.

Behind the scenes, MetaMask scans for telltale signs of a romance or investment scam as you go to send—including a check from our security partner Blockaid, which flags destination addresses that have been marked as malicious. When something looks off, you'll receive a few short questions, the kind designed to surface the red flags a scammer has worked hard to keep you from noticing.

Think of it as a moment to catch your breath: Have you actually met this person in real life? Did someone promise you guaranteed returns? Are you being rushed? They're the questions a friend would ask if they were sitting next to you—and now your wallet asks them on your behalf.

A security speed bump, not a wall

Some wallets shut the door completely when they sense risk. We'd rather give you a real speed bump—one that makes the danger impossible to miss—and then let you decide. Your funds are yours. We just want to be sure that if you go ahead, you're doing it with your eyes open.

There's an added benefit, too. By walking you through the warning signs right when it counts, it does more than stop one bad transaction, it helps you learn to spot the next one.

Romance and investment scam protection is now live on MetaMask Mobile (v8.11+) and Extension (v13.48+), for all EVM networks.