A new cryptocurrency scam called Pig Butchering targets victims and takes advantage of cryptocurrency systems to drain people of their life savings.
Pig Butchering AKA Crypto Romance Scams
A new type of crypto scam is in the news these days, where victims are befriended through dating or social media apps and then tricked into investing in bogus investment schemes on fake crypto brokerage platforms. Thousands of “Pig Butchering” victims have been identified, with the average amount lost being over $150,000, according to Global Anti-Scam Org.
Pig Butchering scams began surfacing in 2020. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center issued an alert on Oct. 3, warning people to be wary of such schemes. In the U.S. alone, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center estimated more than $429 million was stolen in 2021. Coinbase, too, has issued an alert urging customers to be vigilant.
Originating mainly from East Asian countries, the term Pig Butchering refers to how scammers “fatten” up the victim by showing eye-catching returns on their initial investments. This convinces them to deposit as much money as possible into fraudulent crypto accounts, before the “pig” is “slaughtered” by being frozen out of the funds.
ALERT: While pig butchering often uses romance as a tactic, scammers can also build other types of personal or professional relationships. Experts who are trained to manipulate their targets, making it is easy for someone to fall prey to this scam.⬇️
