A resident of Roseville lost more than $1 million in an online romance scam that began on a dating site in March 2025, after a woman moved the relationship to private messages and claimed she needed money to access a supposed inheritance of 455 kilograms of gold. The victim sent funds for months to cover alleged taxes, storage, and legal fees before realizing the story was false, and police are now warning the community about this common scam tactic.
According to the Roseville Police Department on their Facebook page, the gold-inheritance story tied to a romance scam was completely fabricated, and officials urged anyone who sent money in similar situations to contact the Federal Trade Commission and file a local police report in Roseville, while reminding the public of common red flags like being pushed to move conversations off dating apps, sudden requests for large sums of money, and pressure to send funds quickly.
How the scheme unfolded
The scheme is laid out in the Roseville Police Department Crime Log. The victim met the suspect on a dating site in March 2025, then shifted to iMessage. There, the suspect claimed a family member had died and left roughly 455 kilograms of gold. The catch, she said, was that more than $1 million was needed to cover storage and tax costs before the gold could be released…