'Pig Butchering' Crypto Investment Scams Delivered 'Massive Losses' to Victims
An emerging and rather complex form of investment scam known as “pig butchering,” wherein flirtatious strangers convince unsuspecting users to invest in crypto trading platforms that eventually seize funds when victims try to cash out, has reportedly robbed victims of millions of dollars worth of cryptoassets.
The term “pig butchering” refers to a sophisticated and human-intensive process of using fake profiles on social media platforms and dating sites to lure people into investing in unsuspicious scams.
“The fraud is named for the way scammers feed their victims with promises of romance and riches before cutting them off and taking all their money,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned in April 2022.
The most prevalent form of pig butchering scam involves promising crypto platforms that offer unprecedented returns within a short time, according to a recent report by security news and investigation website KrebsonSecurity.
These scams often start with what appears to be a wayward SMS and are also prevalent on dating sites and apps, the report said. As soon as the victim responds, they ask them to continue the conversation via the WhatsApp messaging platform.
“The people forced to perpetrate these scams have a guide and a script, where if your victim is divorced say this, or a single mom say this,” Erin West, deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County in Northern California, was quoted as saying.
West said there are "horrifying stories" of victims that have fallen victim to this scam, which range from young women early in their careers, to senior citizens and even to people working in the financial services industry.
In the report, Courtney Nolan, a divorced mother of three daughters, was presented as one of
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