The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has successfully seized assets worth $112M in cryptocurrency in a pig butchering scam. The department said that these scams have been on rise over the past few years and they are working hard to find other such scams prevailing in the country.
What is a Pig Butchering scam?
Through pig butchering scams, the scammers try to win the trust of the victims by showing that they are legitimate. After the victims start trusting the scammers, they are brought into fake cryptocurrency investment schemes. Victims are mostly targeted through social media platforms, misdialed calls and messages, and dating websites.
Half of the seized funds held in one account
The authorities reported that they seized six accounts that were linked with the scam which were based in Los Angeles, Idaho, and Arizona. The Los Angeles account had nearly $66 M which accounts for half of the funds. At least 10 victims have been identified by the authorities and the last transfer of funds occurred on 21 March.
Crypto scams on the rise
According to ImmuneFi, crypto scams have been on a rise with roughly a 192% increase every year. NFTs and DeFi are the most vulnerable targets because of the amount that flows into these two niches. The problem has reached such a stage that the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI)has developed Cryptocurrency Scam Tracker to help people. This tool will provide enough data and ideas on how scams are operated.
