December 18, 2023 at 07:52AM
Four U.S. nationals have been charged with a cryptocurrency investment scam, earning over $80 million through various illicit activities. The scheme involved pig butchering scams and shell companies, resulting in significant financial losses for victims. This reflects a concerning trend of increasing cryptocurrency investment scams, as reported by the FBI.
The meeting notes discuss a case in which four U.S. nationals have been charged with participating in an illicit scheme that earned them over $80 million through cryptocurrency investment scams. The scheme involved pig butchering scams, which are a form of romance-investment scams typically targeting victims through dating apps. The cyber criminals involved in these scams use group chats to target and persuade victims to invest in cryptocurrencies through bogus brokerage platforms. The notes also cite statistics from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, reporting unprecedented losses totaling $2.57 billion from cryptocurrency investment scams in 2022, representing a 183% increase from the previous year.