Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of economics and cryptography.
US Authorities Warn ‘Pig Slaughter’ Crypto Scam Becoming Alarmingly Popular – Featured Bitcoin News
US authorities have warned about the growing popularity of a crypto scam known as “pig slaughter”. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) explained: “The scam is named for the way scammers feed their victims promises of romance and riches before cutting them off and taking all their money.”
Crypto scam ‘pig slaughter’ on the rise
US authorities have warned of a type of cryptocurrency scam called “pig slaughtering” that has grown in popularity at an alarming rate.
Lakewood Police Public Information Officer John Romero detailed:
The term pig slaughtering basically comes from a farmer fattening up the pig before slaughtering it. And in this case, it is the suspect who was fattening up the victim.
The police officer explained that the pig slaughter scam usually starts on social media or dating sites such as Linkedin and Tinder, where the scammer finds and convinces the victim to hand over some funds. The scammer then deposits the money into a crypto account that appears to grow in value, prompting the victim to want to add more funds to the account. The scammer then disappears with a large amount of the victim’s cryptocurrency.
According to a victim of the pig slaughter scam, he was initially able to make a few withdrawals from his crypto account without any problems. Everything looked legit until he got a message telling him he had to pay more than $204K in deposits to access his account.
US Secret Service Special Agent Shawn Bradstreet commented:
Once they [the victims] see how easy it is to invest, they see an increase in their screen account, and then they end up investing their entire savings in a matter of days.
He added: “The fake sites used may look legitimate, but the money goes straight to criminals.”
The Singapore-based Global Anti-Scam Organization is a non-profit staffed 24 hours a day to help victims of pig slaughter. Grace Yuen, a Massachusetts-based spokesperson for the organization, described:
We are seeing an influx of victims from the Bay Area… The scams continue to become more sophisticated, with fake platforms being created that pretend to be legitimate crypto trading sites.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in April: “The scam is named for the way scammers feed their victims promises of romance and riches before cutting them off and taking all their money.” The law enforcement agency added:
Run by a scam ring of cryptocurrency scammers who mine dating apps and other social media for victims, the scam is becoming alarmingly popular.
Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase also warned of Sha Zhu Pan (pig slaughter) investment scams last week. “Coinbase has seen a worrying increase in fake cryptocurrency investment platforms recruiting victims through connections on dating apps and social media. We urge our users to be vigilant against this type of social engineering scam,” the exchange wrote.
What do you think about the cryptocurrency scam scam? Let us know in the comments section below.
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