American cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has raised concern over an increase in the number of romance-investment scams called ‘pig butchering’ or ‘Sha zu pan’.
This type of scam occurs when a scammer sources victims through dating apps and social media as well as builds “trust with their victim, sometimes over a long time period of weeks or months.”
The Coinbase Global Investigations, Trust & Safety and Threat Intelligence Teams expressed worry on the rising popularity of this scam in a security PSA released on Thursday.
Coinbase explained: “Recently, a noteworthy increase in scams purporting to be foreign exchanges or crypto trading platforms that are spread by scammers who use dating apps to lure victims.
“While investment scams and romance scams are not unique to the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the irreversible nature of cryptocurrency transactions can make these scams devastating.”
However, the publicly-traded company noted that it works closely with law enforcement actors across the world to protect its customers from different forms of targeted cyber attacks.
Modus Operandi
For this nature of scam, Coinbase explained that fraudsters typically claim that they have received enormous financial gains from a cryptocurrency investment and convince their victims to invest…
