Warning: Crypto “Pig Butchering” scam is on the rise on Tinder!

U.S. authorities have warned of the growing popularity of a crypto scam known as “piggybacking“. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) explained, “This fraud is named for the way scammers feed their victims promises of romance and wealth before cutting them off and taking all their money.“

U.S. authorities warn of growing popularity of Crypto “Pig Butchering” scam

U.S. authorities have warned of a type of crypto-currency scam called “piggybacking“, whose popularity is increasing at an alarming rate.

Lakewood Police Public Information Officer John Romero detailed:

The term hog butchery comes from the fact that a farmer fattens the hog before it is slaughtered. And in this case, it was the suspect who fattened his victim.

The police officer explained that the hog butchering scam usually begins on social networks or dating sites like Tinder, where the scammer finds and convinces the victim to hand over funds. The scammer then places the money in a crypto account that appears to be growing in value, prompting the victim to add funds to the account. The scammer then disappears with a large amount of the victim’s crypto-currency.

According to a victim of the “Pig Butchering“Initially, he was able to make a few withdrawals from the crypto account without any problems. Everything seemed legitimate until he received a message telling him that he had to pay over $204K in deposits in order to access his account.

US Secret Service Special Agent Shawn Bradstreet commented:

Once they [les victimes] see how easy it is to invest, they see an increase in their screen account and end up investing all their savings in a matter of days.

He added: “The counterfeit sites used may look legitimate, but the money goes directly to the criminals.“

The Global Anti-Scam Organization, based in Singapore, is a nonprofit organization with a 24-hour staff to help victims of “Pig Butchering.” Grace Yuen, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts-based organization, described:

We are seeing an influx of victims, the scam continues to get more sophisticated, where fake platforms are being created, posing as legitimate crypto-currency sites.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) elaborated in April:”This fraud is named for the way scammers feed their victims promises of romance and wealth before cutting them off and taking all their money.“The law enforcement agency added:

It is run by a network of crypto-currency scammers who are mining dating apps and other social networks to find victims and the scam is becoming alarming.

Crypto-currency exchange Coinbase also warned about investment scams last week. “Coinbase has seen a disturbing increase in fraudulent crypto-currency investment platforms that source victims through connections on dating apps and social media. We encourage our users to be vigilant of this type of social engineering scam“, the exchange writes.