Law enforcement authorities in the US have taken actions of shutting down websites that were suspected of having a connection or were used to cause the notorious crypto fraud called ‘pig butchering’.
The fraudsters are butchering Americans who were trying their luck by becoming crypto traders but in return, they are victimized and lose their funds to the fraudulent crypto scheme.
Another Crypto Fraud Scheme
A crypto scam, which has affected a lot of Americans by ripping off their funds, called ‘pig butchering’ continues to remain active in the US.
According to law enforcement authorities, they have received a huge number of complaints in which victims have reportedly lost their money to the scam.
US DOJ Takes Notice
The scam also caught the attention of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) which suggested the initiation of action against the perpetrators of the scam.
In this connection, raids have been authorized while cybersecurity agencies have been advised to strictly monitor.
Shutting Down of 7 Suspected Websites
It has now been informed by DOJ that the authority has shut down at least seven websites and domains. DOJ claimed that the domains were linked with the notorious ‘pig butchering’ scam.
DOJ further detailed how the perpetrators behind the ‘pig butchering’ scam were victimizing members of the general public.
According to the information supplied by DOJ, the criminals lured their victims on several websites including social media platforms and various dating apps.
Design of Fraud
In some cases, DOJ noted that victims were sent mobile messages and upon enquiring, the criminals claimed that the message was sent wrongly.
However, without concealing their identities and gender, they try to develop relationships. If the victim was a man then the criminal became a girl and if a girl then a man. Through discussion, they then try to win the victims’ trust.
If they succeeded in winning the trust, then the criminals offer victims investment and business opportunities, exclusively in crypto trading.
When the bait is taken then the victims were lured into fake websites and domains purposefully created for fraud and deception.
DOJ explained that when the victim takes the bait and sends funds into fraudulent investment apps, perpetrators vanish from the scene with the money. Consequently, small and large-scale losses are incurred by victims.
$ 10 Million Lost So Far
The record of DOJ revealed that so far five individuals have been scammed by the designers of ‘pig butchering’. DOJ further suggested that the seven websites which have been shut down were directly linked with the scam.
According to DOJ, these websites were used to trap people and entice them into believing that the investment scheme was genuine.
DOJ’s investigation further revealed that all the suspected websites were in fact spoofed which traced back to Singapore International Monetary Exchange.
According to DOJ’s records, at least $10 Million have been lost by victims of pig butchering scams so far.