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According to federal authorities, scammers in pig butchering schemes encounter victims in various ways, including on dating applications, social media websites, and even random text messages masquerading as the wrong number.
Scammers initiate relationships with victims and slowly gain their trust, eventually introducing the idea of making a business investment using cryptocurrency.
Victims are then directed to other members of the scheme running fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms, where victims are persuaded to invest money.
Once the money is sent to the fake investment application, the scammer vanishes, taking it with them, often resulting in significant losses for the victim.
According to court records, between August 2022 and July 2023, scammers induced the New York victim, a Capital Region resident of Warren County, to wire monies to the now-seized domain OKEX-NFT.net, according to the US Attorney's Office of the Northern District of New York.
In total, the victim lost over $341,000.
Using the confidence-building techniques described, the scammers convinced the victim that he or she was investing in a legitimate cryptocurrency opportunity.
After the victim transferred investments into the deposit addresses that the scammers provided in connection with the seized domain name, the victim’s funds were immediately transferred through numerous bank accounts to conceal the source of the funds.
Related court documents and information are located on the online docket for the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (available via www.pacer.gov), by searching for Case No. 24-MJ-00038 (DJS).
If you believe you are a victim of this scheme, please get in touch with CryptoFraud@SecretService.gov or IC3.gov to file a report.
"Please provide detailed information in your report, including any purported investment websites visited, telephone numbers, email accounts, and social media profiles used by scammers, and any cryptocurrency addresses, transaction hashes, and dates of transactions," the Secret Service said.
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