Crypto scam: Inside the billion-dollar ‘pig-butchering’ industry
Posted: November 27th, 2023, 8:14 pm
Crypto scam: Inside the billion-dollar ‘pig-butchering’ industry -
Fraudulent crypto investment schemes directed from Asia known as “pig butchering” have become a global billion-dollar industry. But little is known about those who benefit. Reuters traced at least $9 million linked to such scams to an account registered to a well-connected representative of a Chinese trade group in Thailand.
In total, crypto worth more than $90 million flowed into the account between January 2021 and November 2022, according to registration documents and transaction logs reviewed by Reuters. Of that, at least $9.1 million came from a crypto wallet that U.S. blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs said was linked to pig-butchering scams. Two other major crypto-tracking firms also said the account received funds linked to such scams.
The victim of one of the scams was a 71-year-old California man. He sent money to crypto wallets that channeled more than $100,000 into the account in Wang’s name, according to blockchain analysis company Coinfirm. The man’s family told Reuters he lost about $2.7 million, his life savings, after falling prey to someone claiming to be an attractive young woman called Emma.
The previously unreported transactions provide rare insight into the finances of pig-butchering scams, which involve engaging unsuspecting people online. Scammers cultivate trust and then persuade victims to invest in fraudulent crypto schemes, sometimes via fake websites built to look like legitimate trading platforms. Sometimes the targets initially receive real returns to trick them into believing the scheme is legitimate.
Such scams have drawn intensifying scrutiny from global law enforcement over the past year, but little is publicly known about the people behind them.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/fintech-crypto-fraud-thailand/
Cheers,
Itsallaguess
Crypto scam: Inside the billion-dollar ‘pig-butchering’ industry -
Fraudulent crypto investment schemes directed from Asia known as “pig butchering” have become a global billion-dollar industry. But little is known about those who benefit. Reuters traced at least $9 million linked to such scams to an account registered to a well-connected representative of a Chinese trade group in Thailand.
In total, crypto worth more than $90 million flowed into the account between January 2021 and November 2022, according to registration documents and transaction logs reviewed by Reuters. Of that, at least $9.1 million came from a crypto wallet that U.S. blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs said was linked to pig-butchering scams. Two other major crypto-tracking firms also said the account received funds linked to such scams.
The victim of one of the scams was a 71-year-old California man. He sent money to crypto wallets that channeled more than $100,000 into the account in Wang’s name, according to blockchain analysis company Coinfirm. The man’s family told Reuters he lost about $2.7 million, his life savings, after falling prey to someone claiming to be an attractive young woman called Emma.
The previously unreported transactions provide rare insight into the finances of pig-butchering scams, which involve engaging unsuspecting people online. Scammers cultivate trust and then persuade victims to invest in fraudulent crypto schemes, sometimes via fake websites built to look like legitimate trading platforms. Sometimes the targets initially receive real returns to trick them into believing the scheme is legitimate.
Such scams have drawn intensifying scrutiny from global law enforcement over the past year, but little is publicly known about the people behind them.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/fintech-crypto-fraud-thailand/
Cheers,
Itsallaguess