The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has seized $112 million in cryptocurrency that was previously drained through the alleged “pig slaughter” scams. One particular account based in Los Angeles contained digital assets worth more than $66 million.
This type of fraud has become increasingly common lately. An investigation hypothesized that several shell companies in the UK could have been the orchestrators of such schemes.
The term “pig slaughter” refers to the fattening of a pig before slaughter. Criminals were contacting victims via direct messages and offering them a great “investment” that could bring them big profits. They might explain how they found the contact details and lure people into shady schemes (which, in many cases, are too good to be true).
Such delinquents can develop a romantic relationship with their victims just to gain their trust. Unfortunately for those who fall into this trap, there is no real love behind those fake gestures but only an attempt to steal money.
LA is hardest hit
US authorities confiscation Digital assets from six accounts based in Los Angeles, Idaho County, and Arizona County. Prosecutors alleged that criminals used the addresses to launder proceeds from various crypto scams, including the “pig slaughter” scams.
Victims in pig slaughter schemes are referred to as “pigs” by the scammers because the scammers will use elaborate stories to “fatten” the victims into believing they are in a romantic or close personal relationship.
Once the victim places enough trust in the scammer, the scammer brings the victim into a cryptocurrency investment scheme,” an affidavit related to the case states.
Los Angeles victims appear to be the hardest hit since authorities seized about $66.4 million from an account in the area. The FBI has identified at least a dozen local residents who were unable to divest, with the aforementioned address containing some of their assets.
One of the victims – an unnamed woman – was contacted on LinkedIn by a man identified as “Fei Kuang”. He advised her to join a crypto investment scheme by sending some of her savings periodically. When she tried to withdraw her money, Fei Kuang told her she had to pay 20% in taxes. The woman (who had invested around $2.5 million) realized she had become a victim when the dubious platform kept asking for more money.
US Attorney General Martin Estrada has said that “high-tech scammers” have taken advantage of the hype surrounding the crypto sector to encourage inexperienced Americans to distribute their money in “get-rich-quick” schemes. He praised the efforts of law enforcement agencies that took “extreme measures” to alert the public and confiscate the tokens.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Pollitt stated that these types of scams can have a devastating effect on families and cost individuals their life savings. He emphasized that the authorities would “quickly return” the confiscated assets to the victims.
“In addition to our relentless efforts to disrupt these schemes, we must also work to raise public awareness and help inform potential victims: Be wary of people you meet online; seriously question investment advice, especially regarding cryptocurrency, from people you have not met in person; And remember, investments that seem too good to be true usually are.
Pig slaughter in the United Kingdom
like Potato encryption mentioned Earlier this year, more than 168 shell companies in the UK were suspected of running investment schemes, some of which were based on “pig slaughter” scams. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Observer estimated that many of these companies were interconnected, while most of the directors were Chinese.
Representative Margaret Hodge suggested that increasing fees for registering a company in the kingdom could be one way to stop this crime:
Raising the fee to £100 would provide sufficient resources for our law enforcement without increasing costs to taxpayers. Anything less and the criminals and corrupt of the world will see they can continue to manipulate and exploit us.”
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