FBI Renews Warning Over Pig Butcher Crypto Scam Sweeping Country – Bitcoin News Spotlight

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reiterated its warning about a very popular cryptocurrency investment scam called “pig slaughter” that is sweeping the U.S. “Be very careful when you go on social media and dating apps and someone start developing a relationship with you,” warned an FBI specialist.

FBI Warns About Pig Butcher Crypto Scam

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has renewed its warning about the “pig slaughter” cryptocurrency investment scam. Frank Fisher, a public relations specialist at the Albuquerque branch of the FBI, warned that the pig butcher crypto scam “is sweeping the country,” CNN reported Monday, quoting him:

Be very careful when you go on social media and dating apps and someone starts developing a relationship with you and wants you to start investing… Don’t get butchered.

In pig-slaughter schemes, scammers “fatten the pig by making the victim think they are investing in something and tricking them into transferring money in cryptocurrency,” explained District Attorney Jeff Rosen of Santa Clara County, California. He added that criminals in pig-slaughter programs “fatten” their victims’ digital wallets and then steal the money.

Rosen’s office runs a multi-agency task force that fights technology-related crimes. He noted that based on the investigations conducted by his team, these cryptocurrency investment scams typically operate overseas, such as in Cambodia and China.

The district attorney warned that scammers are especially active around the holidays as they often prey on victims who may be feeling lonely.

According to Rosen, pig-slaughter operations involve highly sophisticated methods and scammers have been “trained by psychologists to try to figure out the best way to manipulate people.” She pointed out:

You are dealing with people who will use different psychological techniques to make you vulnerable and to make you interested in parting with your money.

US authorities warned in August that the pig butcher crypto scam is becoming very popular. In November, the Department of Justice (DOJ) seized seven domain names used in pig slaughter schemes.

Have you come across any pig slaughter scammers online? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms

An Austrian business student, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests are in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects, and the intersection of economics and cryptography.