A Maryland woman lost $3 million in a “pig butchering” crypto scam, where fraudsters from Southeast Asia built trust over weeks through a Korean messaging app.
By Bhushan Akolkar
Editor Hamza Tariq
Updated
2 mins read
In a pig butchering crypto scam, a Maryland woman lost a staggering $3 million after getting trapped into a fraudsters’ bait from Southeast Asia. A recent report from CBD News shows that the scammer contacted the victim via a Korean messaging app, while building trust over the course of several weeks.
The scammer then started requesting funds, claiming that they would be investing that in cryptocurrency. To make the scheme appear legitimate, the scammer presented a convincing but fake investment portfolio.
This is a classic case of “pig butchering” crypto scam where the scammers spend time gaining the target victim’s trust, before convincing them to give money, and investing it further in crypto assets. While confessing this, the Maryland-based woman said:
“I put in over $3 million into this, and it showed that I was making almost maybe like 80% profit. When she got a lot more of my trust, more money would be poured in. Unless you know what you’re doing, you’re not going to be able to tell – especially if you’ve never done crypto before.”
Sarah Lewis, an agent from the FBI’s Baltimore field office, discovered the victim was being scammed through Operation Level Up, a bureau initiative aimed at combating cryptocurrency fraud.
Authorities warn that scammers often coach their victims on how to respond if questioned by law enforcement, making it harder to intervene and prevent financial losses.
In one case, when an agent initially spoke with a victim, she denied being scammed and even used language that was recognized as coming directly from the scammer.
Despite the industry’s growth, crypto scams have continued to rise. A recent investigation revealed that Coinbase users lost over $46 million, with scammers targeting multiple crypto wallets.
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Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
