U.S. authorities are warning about a new sort of cryptocurrency scam that is becoming increasingly troublesome. Dubbed as ‘pig butchering’, scammers lure their victims into sending crypto funds by picturing them a future filled with romance and riches, after which they take it all and leave without a trace.
The pig butchering fraud usually begins on popular social media or dating Apps like LinkedIn and Tinder. On these sites, scammers search for victims to convince handing over some funds. Putting the money into a crypto account, the scammers make the victims believe the account is growing in value and push for the victim to send more funds. At some point the scammer takes off with the cryptocurrency, leaving the victim empty handed at a loss.
A U.S. Secret Service Special Agent explained:
“When the victims see how easy it is to invest, they see a rise in their screen account and then they end up investing their entire life savings in a matter of days.”
“The counterfeit sites used can look legitimate, but the money is going straight to the criminals,” the agent continued.
A victim of the pig butchering scam, said that initially he could make a few withdrawals from the crypto account without a problem. While everything looked legit at the start, he later received a message instructing him to pay more than $204K in deposits to be able to access his account.
The scheme is run by a fraud ring of cryptocurrency scammers who intensely search dating apps and other social media for opportunities with the the scam becoming alarmingly popular already.
There currently is a Singapore-based non-profit organization that operates globally working 24 hours a day to help victims of pig butchering called the Global Anti-Scam Organization. A US-based spokesperson expressed her concerns:
“We are seeing an influx of victims from the Bay Area. The scam continues to get more advanced, where fake platforms are made, impersonating legitimate crypto-trading sites.”
Last week, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase warned users of the social engineering scam in a company blogpost.
“Coinbase has seen a concerning increase in fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms that are sourcing victims through connections on dating apps and social media. We are encouraging our users to be vigilant against this type of social engineering scam.”
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Source: Igaming
