The lawsuit reveals that the victim Fitzgerald deposited $180,000 into a pig butchering scheme, and has been unable to withdraw his money.
A cryptocurrency pig-butchering scam victim has filed a lawsuit against a woman named Lisa and several other defendants. The victim George Edward Fitzgerald II alleges that he invested about $180,000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies with a fake crypto exchange introduced by Lisa. The lawsuit accuses Lisa and her co-conspirators of conversion, conspiracy, and unjust enrichment.
Victim Depsoted $180,000 Over 8 Months
According to a report, Fitzgerald was interested in cryptocurrency investment and started conversing with Lisa online sometime in 2022. Court documents filed in the United States District Court of the Southern District of Florida indicate that Lisa claimed she had a successful crypto trading strategy. She then convinced Fitzgerald to transfer funds to an “ETX” exchange where she had allegedly earned high returns.
Unfortunately, Fitzgerald found out that the exchange was a fake site specifically designed to deceive interested crypto investors. According to court documents, the site faked real-time market data and trading activities. However, any action Fitzgerald or other investors took did not actually trade any cryptocurrencies.
After depositing $180,000 between October 2022 and May 2023, Fitzgerald then tried to withdraw the money but could not. Instead, the investor got multiple excuses for why the funds were unavailable. At some point, the defendants asked him to send more money to satisfy unspecified fees before accessing the funds.
Following his inability to make withdrawals, a forensic investigation was conducted. This led to the conclusion that Fitzgerald’s funds were transferred to Binance crypto wallets controlled by Lisa and her conspirators. The lawsuit states that the value of Fitzgerald’s investments is now $266,000.
Pig Butchering on the Rise
Unfortunately, the number of pig butchering scams is on the rise. Pig butchering is a long-term investment fraud where a victim unknowingly makes repeated investment deposits to a fraudulent scheme, usually via digital assets.
On Tuesday, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) published a press release raising awareness about increased pig butchering. The release specifies that fraudsters usually contact would-be victims on social media platforms on dating sites and then try to develop a relationship to build trust. They then use fake online trading platforms and promises of high and quick returns to secure repeated deposits.
People are advised to maintain a healthy amount of skepticism when dealing with unknown investments, remain wary of unsolicited messages, and report suspected scams to authorities.
Last December, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California indicted four persons for laundering several million dollars illicitly procured from pig butchering scams. According to the indictment, the parties were involved in at least 284 transactions totaling more than $80 million. Authorities traced at least $20 million worth of these deposits directly to bank accounts associated with the arrested persons.
A recent report states that two alleged scammers were arrested for laundering at least $73 million through shell companies used for pig butchering schemes. The criminals used a few co-conspirators to launder the funds through US institutions to Bahamas bank accounts. They then converted the funds to USDT.
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