The FBI is investigating a group of crypto romance scammers behind fraudulent schemes that have defrauded victims of nearly $5 million. These scammers defrauded their victims of nearly $5 million. They pretended to be romantic partners to gain trust, then convinced people to invest in fake cryptocurrency schemes. Federal prosecutors in North Carolina are also working to seize approximately $4.99 million from suspicious Tether wallets connected to the scam.
This scam, called “pig butchering,” involves people pretending to be potential partners online and persuading victims to invest in fake crypto platforms, like Bitkanant, which is a fake version of the real Bitkant exchange. After victims invest, they are told their accounts are frozen and they need to pay more fees to get their money back. Many victims, including a 60-year-old from Angier and an 83-year-old from Minnesota, lost a lot of money, with two victims losing over $2.75 million.
The FBI’s investigation shows that romance scams are becoming a bigger problem, especially in Southeast Asia. In the U.S., these scams have been increasingly linked to cryptocurrency platforms, where scammers use fake identities to deceive people.
