By We’ve all heard horror stories of rug pulls, pump and dumps, and crypto investment scams that leave people’s bank accounts high and dry. But now there’s a new variation on the theme called the Pig Butchering Scam.
Pig butchering scams typically start with a stranger contacting a victim via text or social media message and building rapport. Then they begin offering phony investments and disappearing with the funds.
Reporting the Scam
A growing scam is hitting the cryptocurrency investment world, stealing millions from unsuspecting victims. This type of scam, known as “pig butchering” after the way fraudsters fatten their targets up before killing them off with bad investments, takes a lot of time to build trust and then steals money from victims’ digital wallets.
The scammers frequently reach out to their targets through social media, dating apps, or text messages, sometimes masquerading as a wrong number or an old friend. They’ll encourage their targets to move their cryptocurrency assets off exchanges and onto a platform they control, usually with promises of massive returns.
They’ll also urge victims to send money in small increments, often encouraging them to use self-hosted wallets instead of ones managed by exchanges. Those wallets aren’t monitored as closely, making it more difficult to recover stolen crypto. Whether or not you can recover your lost coins depends on several factors, including how much money you’ve lost and when the scam occurred.
Recovering Your Funds
In Pig butchering crypto scams recovery, fraudsters will often use fake crypto trading apps or websites to convince victims that their investment is growing. They will even use the names of well-known crypto exchanges to create a sense of legitimacy and trust.
Once the victim is confident that their investment is thriving, the fraudster will ask for more money to fund further investments. Often, these will be large amounts that the victim can hardly afford to lose.
The fraudster will then use a false claim or a fake dashboard to show exponential growth of the victim’s assets, and they will continue to request more money. Once the amount is too high for the victim to lose, they will disappear with their funds.
While pig butchering scams can be hard to detect, the right precautions can help you avoid them. Keep in mind that you should never transfer cryptocurrency to people you have not met in person or who do not have your contact information on file. Also, beware of companies that charge to recover your lost assets – they may be bogus.
It’s crucial to note that the success of recover stolen bitcoins from scam is not guaranteed, and the chances often depend on the specifics of the scam and the actions taken. Be cautious of services claiming guaranteed recovery for a fee, as scams targeting victims of scams are unfortunately prevalent. Always conduct thorough research and consult with reputable professionals.
Recovering Your Assets
A new crypto scam, dubbed “pig butchering” after the way a pig is fattened before slaughter, is stealing large sums of money from people who invest in fake cryptocurrency investments. These fraudsters typically reach out to victims through social media or dating apps, such as Tinder and WhatsApp, using a fake profile. After gaining trust, they casually mention making significant amounts of money through cryptocurrency investments and encourage the victim to deposit funds into their fraudulent platform.
Once the victim transfers funds to the platform, the scammer can then manipulate them by simulated trades to make it appear that they are earning returns. They may also deny withdrawing funds or impose fees and taxes.
It’s important to report the fraud to your bank and law enforcement as soon as you realize you have been scammed. The earlier you do this, the more likely your banks are to reverse any fraudulent transactions and can help you recover your stolen funds.
Recovering Your Identity
As the name suggests, pig butchering scams are large-scale operations that involve many different people. These crimes often involve crime syndicates, which have the financial and technical resources to operate sophisticated phishing schemes and spoof websites and apps. They also employ workers to blast messages to lists of victims purchased on the dark web.
Pig butchering scams typically start with a text message on social media, WhatsApp, or Tinder from an unfamiliar number that sounds like it came from a friend or an old acquaintance who got the person’s number wrong. The fraudster then begins a cordial discussion with the victim, building trust over weeks or months before introducing an investment opportunity as an oh-by-the-way mention.
Once the fraudster has convinced their target that they are a legitimate investor, they will encourage them to deposit funds into an account on a digital crypto platform under their control. They may permit small withdrawals at first, then begin imposing fees and taxes on the investor.