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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

Massive Losses Define Epidemic of ‘Pig Butchering’

Summary: U.S. state and federal investigators are receiving a surge of reports from victims of "pig butchering," an investment scam in which strangers met on dating apps and social media steer people into fake cryptocurrency platforms that seize funds when victims try to withdraw. Santa Clara County deputy district attorney Erin West said her office began getting these complaints early this year and now receives them daily, with victims including a university professor who lost her retirement and a St. Louis woman, Courtney, who lost more than $5 million after depositing funds on xtb-market[.]com, a lookalike of the legitimate XTB platform. The people running the fake profiles are largely trafficked workers from China and neighboring countries held in Cambodian scam centers, and West said many victims report to the FBI's IC3 but never hear back.

Why it matters: A single victim lost more than $5 million, and Vice's reporting estimates one 10-building complex in Sihanoukville holds 8,000 to 10,000 workers generating roughly $1 billion a year in scam profits - a criminal enterprise operating at industrial scale while local agencies say the cases languish.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Fraud & Scams
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