Updated on 2022-12-12: Pig-butchering suspects detained
Australian police have detained four Chinese nationals as part of an investigation into a criminal syndicate involved in a new type of online investment scam known as “pig butchering.” AFP officials say they detained the suspects following a tip from the US Secret Service back in August and that the four are linked to scams that have stolen more than US$100 million in losses worldwide. Officials also seized $22.5 million across 24 bank accounts linked to the four suspects and their gang. Read more:
- Four men charged in Sydney for sophisticated cyber scam – world-wide losses expected to top US$100 million
- Cryptocurrency Scam – Pig Butchering
Updated on 2022-12-11
The Australian Federal Police arrested four alleged members of a financial investment scam group that has pilfered over $100 million from victims across the world. Read more: Australia arrests ‘Pig Butchering’ suspects for stealing $100 million
Updated on 2022-11-22
The DOJ announced the seizure of seven domains related to ‘pig butchering’ schemes that ended up costing five victims over $10 million from May to August. Read more: DOJ shuts down ‘pig butchering’ domains responsible for $10 million in victim losses
Updated on 2022-11-21: Pig-butchering crackdown
The US Department of Justice said it seized seven websites that were being used to trick victims as part of an online scam scheme known as “pig butchering.” Pig butchering schemes are a combination of romance, investment, and cryptocurrency scams, where victims are approached via dating sites and then social-engineered into making various investment or cryptocurrency transactions. Pig butchering scams originated in Southeast Asia—where they have deep ties to criminal cartels—and are spreading globally. The DOJ said the seized domains impersonated the Singapore International Monetary Exchange and were used to steal more than $10 million from at least five victims. Read more:
- Court Authorizes the Seizure of Domains Used in Furtherance of a Cryptocurrency “Pig Butchering” Scheme
- Cryptocurrency Scam – Pig Butchering
- From Industrial-Scale Scam Centers, Trafficking Victims Are Being Forced to Steal Billions
Updated on 2022-10-05
The FBI warned against a surge in Pig Butchering crypto scams, in which the fraudsters impersonate real friends of the target to steal cryptocurrency from them. Read more: FBI warns of “Pig Butchering” cryptocurrency investment schemes
Overview
People in Silicon Valley are falling victim to a wave of “pig slaughtering” crypto scams via dating applications, as the FBI has noted ‘a rising trend’ in crypto dating scams. An investigator found that one in 20 people who approached her on dating apps in San Francisco was involved in running a scam. The fraudsters behind these scams, which started in China and are known as ‘pig butchering scams’, spend weeks or months of work to build a fake relationship with the victim. Rather than asking the victim to send funds, the scammers spend hours a day chatting using realistic-looking profiles before persuading their victims to invest in crypto ‘via either a duplicated version of a legitimate website or by transferring funds to a dodgy wallet address’. The FBI has noted that its Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 4,300 complaints in 2021, resulting in more than $429 million in losses from this type of scam in the US. Read More: ‘Pig slaughtering’ crypto scams reap millions on Silicon Valley dating apps
