An innocuous friendly message from a stranger on social media can sometimes lead to financial ruin. Tens of thousands of people have already made this bitter conclusion.
The scam known as " pig slaughter ", often involves a long-term establishment of trusting relationships and an offer from scammers to invest in increasingly popular cryptocurrencies.
When victims try to withdraw their fictitious profits, they face exorbitant “penalties” and a permanent loss of money. For years, it was virtually impossible to get it back, but it seems the situation is gradually changing .
Wisconsin detective Scott Simmons helped a woman who lost $551 in one such scheme.
The scammers presented the victim with a supposedly legitimate crypto platform, showing her fake screenshots of accounts with growing profits. At first, she transferred small amounts, then larger ones in 15 transactions in USD Coin.
Simons' investigation revealed that the funds were laundered through several addresses before ending up in one wallet that contained the stolen $4,6 million. The funds were subsequently frozen.
Law enforcement officers in another US state, North Carolina, seized approximately the same amount — $5 million in stablecoins. Tether .
