Increasingly Americans are losing 1000’s of dollars to a scheme that takes fraudsters weeks or months to tug off.
“Pig butchering” scams earned the name from the concept scammers use flattery and faux bonding to “fatten up” their victims. The strategy has amassed billions in stolen funds—particularly in the shape of cryptocurrencies.
Losses from investment scams soared 38% to a recent record high in 2023, in keeping with the FBI’s Web Crime Report. Of the $4.57 billion in funds reported stolen, $3.96 billion involved fraudulent crypto investments.
“I met my scammer through a dating app called Bumble, where he spent about six weeks courting me,” Carina, a victim of pig butchering who asked to only be identified by her first name, said.
She met her scammer on the dating app Bumble, and she or he previously disclosed that her scammer claimed to live a lavish lifestyle and invest heavily in cryptocurrencies. After months of exchanging messages, the scammer convinced her to deposit a complete of $152,000 on a web site designed to mimic the legitimate crypto exchange Kraken.
Carina eventually traced her funds to an exchange in Thailand. She handed the small print over to law enforcement but hasn’t recovered her stolen funds.
Pig butchering scams are sometimes conducted using forced labor in Southeast Asia, in keeping with a report from the United Nations. And despite blockchain firms like Chainalysis tracking down hundreds of thousands in stolen crypto, the multi-jurisdictional footprints of those cases creates a hurdle for law enforcement to seize the stolen funds.
Watch the video above to learn more about how crypto scammers are convincing Americans to offer up their life savings, and the way law enforcement is attempting to fight back.
