New York City authorities said Thursday they have foiled an online scam that stole millions of dollars by tricking victims into making fake cryptocurrency investments. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said his office is involved in a so-called “pig-butchering” scheme, a term used to gain the trust of victims through dating apps and other sites and lure them into making bogus investments. said it had seized 21 web domains used by scammers. Associated Press reported. “Pig slaughter is a growing form of fraud that defrauds residents of Brooklyn and across the country out of billions of dollars each year,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
“My office's strategy is to thwart these plans and educate the public by seizing and shutting down online infrastructure,” Gonzalez said. He urged people not to trust crypto investments that seem too good to be true and warned against downloading apps from unverified crypto websites. The New York City Police Department received 50 complaints about online cryptocurrency scams last year, but this is likely a huge underestimate because people are shy about getting scammed or don't know how to report crimes. said Gonzalez.
Victims who have come forward have reported losing more than $4 million in Brooklyn alone, Gonzalez said, calling the reports “heartbreaking.” “There are people who are suffering huge losses,” he said at a news conference. He said, “You could lose all your life savings. You could mortgage your house.''
- One of the victims, a 51-year-old woman, reported to police last year that she lost $22,680 after being forced to join an online chat group to discuss cryptocurrency investments. The woman saw a statement showing she had made eight deposits and her account had increased to her $387,495. But when she tried to withdraw her initial investment, she was told that she would have to pay taxes. She filed her complaint and was blocked from her chat group. Her money is gone, Gonzalez said.
- Investigators learned that the woman's funds were moved through multiple cryptocurrency addresses, deposited into accounts at foreign cryptocurrency exchanges, and cashed out by individuals outside of U.S. jurisdiction, possibly China. Ta. Gonzalez said the investigation revealed similar victims from California, Pennsylvania and Illinois lost a total of $366,665.
- Another woman, who spoke anonymously in a video shared by the district attorney's office, said the scammer first contacted her through a dating app. A woman who tried to buy her ex-husband out of her home said, “His cheating made me feel safe and trustworthy,” she said. She said she was hesitant when the scammer first encouraged her to invest in cryptocurrencies, but after using her personal loan and her pension, she ended up losing $118,000. Told. “I feel like an idiot,” she said.
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