More and more Americans are losing hundreds of dollars to scammers who take weeks or months to catch on.
The name “pig slaughter” comes from the concept that scammers “fatten up” their victims through flattery and false bonds. This strategy has been used to amass billions in stolen funds – particularly in the shape of cryptocurrencies.
Investment fraud losses rose 38% to a brand new record in 2023, based on the FBI Cybercrime reportOf the $4.57 billion in stolen funds, $3.96 billion involved fraudulent crypto investments.
“I met my scammer through a dating app called Bumble, where he courted me for about six weeks,” said Carina, a victim of the pig slaughter who asked to be identified only by her first name.
She met her cheater through the dating app Bumble. and he or she previously announced that her scammer claimed to live a lavish lifestyle and invest heavily in cryptocurrencies. After months of exchanging messages, the scammer convinced her to deposit a complete of $152,000 on a web site that mimicked the legitimate crypto exchange Kraken.
Carina was eventually capable of trace her money to an exchange in Thailand. She passed the small print on to law enforcement but was unable to recuperate her stolen money.
Pig slaughter fraud in Southeast Asia is usually carried out using forced labour, based on a report by the United Nations. And while blockchain firms like Chainalysis are tracking hundreds of thousands in stolen cryptocurrencies, the cross-border nature of those cases presents a hurdle for law enforcement to seize the stolen funds.
Watch the video above to learn more about how crypto scammers are convincing Americans to present up their life savings and the way law enforcement is attempting to fight back.
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