March 15, 2024 at 02:08PM
The U.S. Department of Justice has recovered $2.3 million in cryptocurrency related to a pig butchering fraud scheme. The scam involved deceiving victims into depositing cryptocurrency into fake investment sites, resulting in significant financial losses. The DOJ traced the recovered funds to 36 victims across the country. The FBI warned about the increasing prevalence of such scams, advising caution and independent verification of investment platforms. If targeted, individuals are urged to contact authorities and avoid additional payments.
Key Takeaways from Meeting Notes:
1. The U.S. Department of Justice recovered $2.3 million worth of cryptocurrency linked to a pig butchering fraud scheme victimizing at least 37 people across the United States.
2. Pig butchering is a social engineering scam where fraudsters build trust with individuals on social media and messaging platforms and deceive them into depositing cryptocurrency into fake investment sites.
3. The recovered funds were traced to two Binance wallets and were linked to 36 victims across the country who had fallen victim to various fraud schemes by the same threat actor.
4. The recovery included various cryptocurrencies such as USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), Tron (TRX), Solana (SOL), Binance Coin (BNB), Cardano (ADA), and Ether (ETH).
5. The FBI has warned about the increasing frequency of pig butchering cryptocurrency investment schemes, costing victims in the U.S. over $2 billion annually.
6. To prevent falling victim to such scams, individuals are advised to independently confirm the authenticity of investment platforms and to not trust individuals only interacted with online. If one believes they have been targeted, they should contact the authorities at “[email protected]” and provide relevant details.