ATLANTA—“Pig Butchering” and other scams could ruin your Holiday Season!
FBI Atlanta is offering several tips to help consumers avoid becoming a victim this season.
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Seres says criminals are at their most active during the holidays. He says thieves are getting better at disguising themselves as honest sellers, especially online.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) receives about 2,500 complaints a day about online scams, and that’s no different during this time of year.
SSA Seres says one of the biggest scams this holiday season is charity scams. He suggests people wanting to donate should look for traditional, legitimate websites.
Victims of any type of scam should contact their local bank to try and get their money back, but also call the local police to file a report, then file with the FBI at www.IC3.gov.
The FBI anticipates a higher loss with romance and investment scams this year, primarily due to a rise in a scam known as “Pig Butchering.” The name comes from a time-tested, heavily scripted, and contact-intensive process to fatten up the prey before slaughter. That’s basically what criminals are doing as they con victims into thinking they are in a trusted online relationship. The thief then convinces the victim to send money or invest in high-yield cryptocurrency accounts. The scammer then vanishes with the money.
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Chad Hunt says crooks are not only targeting online…
