Security News > 2022 > November > 'Pig butchering' romance scam domains seized and slaughtered by the Feds

Pig butchering is a newish twist on romance scams in which fraudsters build a relationship with their victims and then con them into transferring money into accounts controlled by the crooks.

While the court documents remain sealed, we're told that fraudsters tricked five victims in the US between May and August into transferring their money to the seven now-seized domains designed to look like the Singapore International Monetary Exchange.

Once the victims transfer their money into the deposit addresses, the miscreants move the funds through private wallets and swapping services to make the money near impossible to trace.

The pig butchering domain seizures come about a month after the Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging 11 residents in New York and New Jersey with money laundering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, bank fraud conspiracy, passport fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, among other offenses, for their alleged roles in a pig butchering investment scheme.

The defendants were arrested and arraigned on October 13 after allegedly stealing $18 million from more than 200 victims across the US. "For once the name of a scam - pig butchering - reflects the grotesque nature of the harm it causes victims," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll said in a statement.

The FBI issued a warning about these cryptocurrency investment schemes, and urged victims of pig butchering scams to file a report with the bureau's Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/11/23/pig_butchering_domains_seized/