- 10 signs of fraud
- What to do if you suspect you’ve been victimized
- Groups involved in pig butchering scams
- How to avoid “pig butchering”?
US law enforcement agencies are inundated with reports from people who have lost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in connection with a complex investment scam known as pig butchering.
In common parlance, “pig butchering” is the fattening of prey before butchering. In a scam environment, it refers to the time-honored, elaborate and labor-intensive process of using fake profiles on dating apps and social media. Strangers lure people to invest in cryptocurrency trading with high returns – on platforms. When investors try to withdraw money from them, they are informed of huge tax bills. But even those who pay these bogus fees never see their money again.
10 signs of fraud
Red flags warning that you’re being sucked into a scam:
- If someone is too quick to express strong feelings for you online, especially without meeting you in person, it could be a scam.
- Be cautious if someone you don’t know asks you for money, even if they say it’s for an emergency.
- You are promised risk-free investments and easy money, often showing fake screenshots of huge profits to trick you.
- If the person you’re talking to doesn’t want to share personal information or professional details, it’s suspicious.
- You are encouraged to keep investing more money once you start, often stating that this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance or that you should invest more to earn more.
- Criminals often flaunt a lavish lifestyle, showing off expensive cars, trips, or wealth to make their story seem legitimate.
- The investment platform being recommended is usually not a well-known exchange and may not have basic security measures or verification processes in place.
- You may encounter delays, fees or excuses for not being able to access your funds when trying to withdraw your money.
- When you become suspicious or hesitant, the scammer may use guilt, threats or emotional appeals to get your attention.
- If you encounter problems, the platform’s support channels may be fake or unhelpful, further complicating your situation.
What to do if you suspect you’ve been victimized
Sean Gallagher, principal threat researcher at Sophos X-Ops, gives his recommendations:
- Revoke permissions: remove all permissions and smart contracts associated with your wallet.
- Transfer funds: Immediately transfer all your cryptocurrency to a new wallet, especially if you can’t revoke permissions.
- Contact Support: Contact the exchange and wallet provider directly. Avoid in-app support chats as scammers can monitor them.
- Avoid recovery services: If you’ve lost funds, avoid “cryptocurrency recovery” services found on social media – they’re often scams too.
- Document transactions: Use a blockchain browser such as Etherscan to track transactions and share information with security teams or law enforcement.
- Seek support: Others may have fallen victim to similar scams. Contact the Cybercrime Support Network for help.
- Report the fraud: Notify local law enforcement if they have cybercrime teams. For example, Tether worked with the US Department of Justice and cryptocurrency exchange OKX to track down and freeze $225 million in USDT illicit funds as part of a US Department of Justice investigation of a Southeast Asian trafficking syndicate.
Groups involved in pig butchering scams
Sophos reported on various groups involved in pig butchering scams, including domains used, contract wallets, hosting providers, registrars, and total cryptocurrency transactions.
Allnodes
Domains: Operates under domains such as allnodes.vip and allnodes.xyx.
Contract wallets: Uses Ethereum contract wallets with addresses such as “0x6B79f3823372626282c7F88FE670F871eAbd0c746c” and “0xd2b14d2fff430a720cf44bbd064f548a585e73de” to manage and transfer funds.
Hosting and registrar: Hosted in Alibaba Cloud and registered in Alibaba Cloud.
Total: Significant amounts were processed, with transaction volumes of $177,596 and $174,934 respectively for each domain.
Trust Group
Domains: Includes several domains such as trust-oke [.} com, trust-usdt [.] com and several others.
Contract wallets: Primarily uses the wallet “0xcf6b558c218a9148cd77c04be4e3d1c1fc9d61a2” for transactions.
Hosting and registrar: Uses Amazon AWS for hosting and is registered with Amazon.
Total: The group moved a significant amount of $676,869 through its transactions.
Ada Group
Domains: Operates several domains such as ada-defi [.]pics, ada-defi[.]beauty and others that are possibly used to target different audience segments
Contract wallets: The Ethereum contract wallet “0xeb7b75dd5b4b6ef7bbc6ec079cd329a782fc1efe” is used to collect and redirect funds.
Hosting and registrar: Hosted on Cloudflare and registered with Dynadot.
Total: $62,660 worth of funds processed.
Unknown Group
Domains: Manages domains such as trust-eth [.]com and eth-mining [.]xyz.
Hosting and Registrar: Switches between Google and Cloudflare for hosting. Domains are registered with Gname.com and Dynadot.
Total: Unspecified.
Cybercriminals involved in the “pig butchering” scam are creating multiple contract wallets to control the flow of cryptocurrencies, which facilitate the distribution and laundering of funds in a variety of ways. The total volume of reported transactions shows how large-scale they are and how much impact they have on the victims. They have come up with quite a complex scheme.
How to avoid “pig butchering”?
To avoid falling victim to pig butchering scams, follow the tips below.
- Verify your identity: Check who you are communicating with online, especially on dating apps or social media. Scammers often use stolen photos or fake profiles to gain trust. If someone you barely know starts talking about investing, it’s best to back off.
- Question high returns: If an investment seems too good to be true, it probably is. Reject offers that promise huge returns with little or no risk, especially if they force you to act quickly.
- Research platforms: Check before investing in any platform or app. Find out if the service is regulated, read reviews and make sure it is legitimate. Scammers often create convincing fake websites or apps.
- Protect your personal information: keep your personal and financial information to yourself. Only share such information with people you know and trust. Scammers can use your data to manipulate or steal from you.
- Trust your intuition: if something seems wrong, don’t hesitate to say “no” or take some time to think about it. For example, if someone claims to be a German citizen but sends you messages in Chinese, it might be worth double-checking.
By learning the tactics used by scammers and new scams in the cryptocurrency world, you can protect yourself or avoid getting involved in a scam and having your funds stolen. When dealing with strangers online, if you feel something is not right, don’t hesitate to trust your intuition and get advice from trusted friends or financial experts. Remember, it’s always better to be reassured than to regret it later.
