MY CHOICE OF ARTICLES ON THE SUBJECT
A very developed analysis
By Tracey Grummett
Antiscam Advocate
"Romance fraud is a rapidly growing global crisis, claiming new victims daily. While much attention is given to its devastating financial and emotional consequences, many cases remain unreported due to victim blaming, stigma, and a lack of adequate support. For those who do come forward, recovery is a long and difficult process—one that not all victims are able to navigate successfully"
On 26/03/25
The financial scam affects everyone
This was shared on TikTok yesterday. So devastating to hear this young victim of financial fraud talking about her scam. She's shared this to raise awareness, and to warn others. So many people become victim's of fraud, by means of this deception.
From Tracey Grumett
A global phenomenon
The cryptocurrency market attracts new investors every day, but behind this craze hides a darker reality. Romantic scams exploit the confidence and emotions of the victims to get colossal sums out of them. ZATAZ explains a worrying phenomenon that continues to grow.
ZATAZ
Want to know more?
If you’re curious about how organized crime syndicates in Asia really operate, here’s a glimpse.
From Aleks R. and Wai Han Dorothy Won
THE FACT!
A necessity that has become crucial
🚨 The Critical Need for Cryptocurrency Tracing Skills 🚨
FROM Robert Whitaker
IN FRANCE TOO!
FROM Michael R.
We had a very big at 4AM in Paris yesterday. About 200 police raided the home of Crypto scammers that we identified for a South Korean victim of a "Rip Deal" investment scam. Police seized a massive hoard of cash, crypto, jewelry, vehicles and real estate. Thanks to Valentin Szaga-Doktor from Austrian police for coordinating the sting and cooperation.
How a scammer operates in Nigeria and the USA
It's incredible the number of victims for a single man
I am pleased to announce a successful AUD$8,000,000.00 public-private takedown in Nigeria. My team at Rexxfield Cybercrime Investigations, in collaboration with renowned private investigator Ken Gamble of IFW Global, who is assisting the Australian victims, bypassed bureaucratic delays with Australian authorities. Instead, we worked directly with trusted Nigerian detectives at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest a suspect who defrauded at least 139 Australians.
From Michael R.
Want to know more:
HER or HIM???
FROM Nathan Paul Southern / Dominic Williams
There’s lots of talk in Cambodia about online scams. Have you ever wondered how an online romance scam starts?
Like this. Seems innocuous enough. But if I were to reply “Sofie” would try to draw me into conversation. If I proved susceptible, over a period of weeks or even months, “Sofie” would draw from preprepared scripts to try and move the conversation in a romantic direction. Eventually there would then either be a request for money (eg for flight tickets to visit the same location), a recommendation for crypto investment or blackmail.
About Us
FRANCE IS ALSO CONCERNED!
Here's the latest report from Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), The State of Scams in France 2024, which features an in-depth analysis from Matthew Platten, CISSP, BioCatch's fraud expert in France.
The report highlights interesting figures, such as how French consumers lost €2.92 billion less to scams in 2024 compared to last year, but still lost €5.14 billion in total.
From Gareth Williams
Concerning 2023
INCREDIBLE
LINKEDIN IS ALSO CONCERNED
about scams
A FAKE ACCOUNT
Another example
ONE MORE
FROM ANNA ROW
Anna Rowe
Founder and Manager at Catch The Catfish. Co-Founder of LoveSaid.
- LoveSaid
- Canterbury Christ Church University
Canterbury, Angleterre, Royaume-Uni
INTERESTING INITIATIVE
On 10/10/2023
TODAY
BE CAREFUL!
Pig Butchering scams
A C T I O N
The WSJ posted a very well written and extensive piece this morning on pig-butchering and China's crackdown on it. One of the key takeaways is that there is a heavy human trafficking tie-in when it comes to scams.
FROM ERIC HUBER
A PROFESSION OF THE FUTURE
CRYPTO INVESTIGATIONS
PIG BUTCHERING
1) The factors bad actors value when choosing a financial product align with those offered by #cryptocurrency.
2) Cryptocurrency Suspicious Activity Reports (#SARs).
3) Victim Complaints- FBI #IC3 Advisories & #CFPB complaints.
4) Blockchain Analytics, while helpful in certain situations, cannot and does not provide the complete picture of the use of cryptocurrency in illicit finance. At best, it just identifies the tip of the iceberg.
I took the opportunity to draw attention to the horrific crime of #pigbutchering, debunk the myth that “all cryptocurrency transactions are recorded on the blockchain,” and point out that the partial recovery of the Colonial Pipeline ransom was the exception, not the rule.
Dismissing cryptocurrency as a useful tool for illicit finance just because some transactions are recorded on a blockchain is misguided. And is wholly inconsistent with cryptocurrency Suspicious Activity Reports, FBI advisories, and victim complaints.
I suggested that the SAR form be updated to include specific categories for cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency firms so that better data on #cryptocrimecan be collected.
Read my full written testimony here: https://lnkd.in/eEVfsGj7
Watch the full hearing: https://lnkd.in/eehPwub7
#cryptocrime #AML #suspiciousactivityreports
Want to know more
from JINISHA BHATT
🇰🇭 Nov 16, 2023: Sha Zhu Pan 杀猪盘
🏨 In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic & Cambodia’s ban on gambling, Sihanoukville, Cambodia (a product of China’s Belt & Road Initiative), became a largely vacant zone, giving criminals an opportunity to repurpose abandoned hotels & resorts into glorified ‘scam compounds’.[1] Soon, the compounds were filled with tens of thousands of desperate job-seekers ensnared from several East Asian countries. In June 2023, INTERPOL issued a warning declaring scam centres "as a serious & imminent threat to public safety".[2]
TAIWAN
IMPRESSING
Maybe I am in one these parcels!!!
From JOHN W.
The facts and in Europe???
BINANCE
A hell of a story
FROM JohnW.
Public security officials in #Laos report joint operation with authorities of #China, #Thailand, raiding 7 #cyberfraud #scam sites and arresting 462 suspects in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. Latest action part of a broader series of sweeping raids targeting cyberfraud and #organizedcrimeacross the #Mekong.
According to court documents, David Saffron, of Australia, and Vincent Mazzotta Jr., of the Hollywood Hills area of #losangeles, allegedly conspired to operate a fraudulent scheme to induce victims to invest in various trading programs that falsely promised to employ an artificial intelligence automated trading bot to trade victims’ investments in cryptocurrency markets and earn high-yield profits.
ROMANCE FRAUD!
CHINESE ACTION!
Want to know more?
CNBC.COM
Four men indicted in $80 million ‘pig butchering’ scheme
PUBLISHED THU, DEC 14 2023 12:08 PM EST
UPDATED THU, DEC 14 2023 12:19 PM EST
Rohan Goswami@ROGOSWAMI@IN/ROHANGOSWAMICNBC/
Want to know more?
This Australian crypto scam, promoted by Chuck Norris, allegedly just made up their CEO 🥸…
A chief executive officer whose claimed qualifications appear to have no basis in fact was used to promote the HyperVerse crypto fund, alongside celebrity messages of support, as part of a push to recruit new investors into the scheme.
FROM Jan SANTIAGO
The new Chainalysis 2024 Crypto Crime report is now recognizing pig butchering scams as its own giant category, and recognizing that it is still a vast underestimate.
Meanwhile, John Griffin and Kevin Mei have done impressive, thorough work mapping out the scam networks and money laundering patterns. While I think the $75 billion that they traced exiting Chinese exchanges may not all be pig butchering scams, they for sure are dark money.
Want to know more?
from Matthew HOGAN,MS
🥓How do you like your bacon? Extra crispy, a little limp, some brown sugar...or how about a soy sauce
🏌♂️For the past two weeks, Jim (me ☝) has been speaking with Lisa...Unlike my last text relationships with a Chinese woman, this seems to have moved very quickly into investment discussions.
Please read the post and especially the screenshots!
THE QUESTION
🚨 Are Binance Pay and P2P Merchant Services inadvertently facilitating crypto crime? 🚨
During several of my more recent "pig butchering" and wallet exploit investigations, I've noticed some commonalities. Suspects (based in south east Asia) appear to be exploiting Binance Pay and Binance P2P Merchant Services to launder illicit funds off-chain. 😱
But what are these services??
💹Binance Pay is a contactless, borderless, and secure cryptocurrency payment technology designed by Binance. Binance Pay allows the user to pay and get paid in crypto from their friends and family worldwide. This occurs via an application on a mobile device and in order to send to an individual, the sender would need the receivers QR code, Binance account email, phone number, or Binance ID.
💱Binance's P2P plaform which allows traders to buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly with other individuals. Merchants can make money by posting trading ads and completing trades on the Binance P2P platform.
T R M Labs
Technical analysis
On March 8, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the court authorized seizure of over $1.4 million worth of USDT – the stablecoin issued by Tether – from five Ethereum addresses. According to DOJ, the funds, which are suspected fraud proceeds, will be returned to the victims of a massive tech support fraud scheme.
T R M LABS
Earlier this year, Houston Police Detectives were able to analyze, trace, and seize cryptocurrency fraud proceeds. TRM Labs is proud to support the Houston Police Department in this investigation and in its other efforts to disrupt fraud and financial crime.
In this case, a victim was convinced to invest in a fictitious crypto trading platform and, as shown in TRM graph visualizer below, was defrauded into sending over $800,000 worth of USDT and ETH via several transactions to the fictitious platform.
THE UNION IS THE STRENGTH
🚨🤯 Crazy Day For Crypto Compliance Industry 🤯🚨
FROM STEPHEN SARGEANT
From detained crypto investigators to founders of one of the largest bitcoin mixers being convicted in Federal Court, here is what you need to know ⬇️
🐷 Pig Butchering is a Billion Dollar Industry and it has gotten the attention of the world after John Oliver expose and videos surfacing from compounds in Southeast Asian and Dubai, we see that this problem is now a TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION problem and we need to solve it fast.
FROM WILLIAM CALLAHAN
15 financial products money launderers use to hide, obfuscate and clean ill-gotten gains.
You have to know them, great work
Our Project
🚨 Urgent Warning: The Sophisticated LinkedIn Investment Scam 🚨
INCREDIBLE STORY
PIG BUTCHERNG
REAL OR NOT?
by JAN SANTIAGO
$75B Crypto in Pig Butchering is Not "F*cking Absurd", Actually
The study about $75B crypto linked to pig butchering scams has been met with incredulity, denial and outrage by crypto boosters. Is the number plausible?
SCAM: help
SCAM:help Proudly Welcomes Janine Grainger as Our Newest Ambassador
Skills at the service of the cryptoscam fight
Soon in France???
C'est avec plaisir que je vous partage mon article de blog portant sur le "Pig Butchering" rédigé dans le cadre de ma formation en lutte contre la criminalité économique ILCE - Institut de lutte contre la criminalité économique HEG Arc.
by Flore Grandjean
