Americans lost $5.6B to crypto scams, often referred to as “pig butchering crypto scams,” in 2023, yet this doesn’t seem to have been the wake-up call we might have expected it to be. Over 50,000 investment scams were reported in America in the first half of 2023, costing consumers $2.5B. These investment scams mostly revolved around investing in cryptocurrencies with the promise of obtaining a large return. The median loss for investment scam victims in the first half of 2024 was $9,000 – a $1,000 increase from last year. With the U.S. facing mounting losses, it begs the question: has the UK managed to steer clear of this form of cryptocurrency fraud, or is it on the verge of a similar costly reckoning?
How Crypto Chaos and Romance Scams Go Hand-in-Hand
In 2023, cryptocurrency scams in the United States surged to unprecedented levels, leaving Americans with a staggering $5.6 billion in losses, according to a report by the FBI. This form of fraud is often referred to as “pig butchering scams” due to the notion of fraudsters “fattening up” their victims by building trust through friendly conversations on social media or dating platforms. This grooming phase often involves scammers skillfully creating credible profiles and building up their victim’s confidence, enticing them to want to start investing.
Pig butchering is very similar to romance scams, which have been around for decades, and other cryptocurrency scams that sprouted as crypto became mainstream over the past 10 years. These scams typically involve fraudsters luring victims into crypto investments with promises of massive returns, only to drain their accounts.
The impact was so severe that although crypto-related complaints made up just 10% of the FBI’s total financial fraud cases, they accounted for nearly half of the total monetary losses, underscoring the outsized effect of these schemes.
Crypto scams are skyrocketing in severity and complexity.
The nature and intensity of these scams have grown increasingly sophisticated, with perpetrators leveraging complex techniques to deceive both individual investors and businesses. FBI Director Christopher Wray highlighted this worrying trend, noting that crypto scams are “skyrocketing in severity and complexity.” Those most affected were older adults, with individuals over 60 reporting losses totaling $1.6 billion in 2023. For many, these scams represented a significant financial blow and a deep erosion of trust in the promises of cryptocurrency as a profitable investment avenue.
The scams can hit anyone. Criminals will strike up an online friendship with the victim and encourage them to make a crypto investment via an app or website that’s a scam. (Romance scams, where scammers woo lonely people on dating services, are also a primary tool.)
The first half of 2024 has shown little relief, with Americans losing another $2.5 billion across more than 50,000 reported investment scams, most of which are crypto-related. The median loss per victim rose to $9,000, an increase from $8,000 the previous year, indicating that scammers are succeeding in extracting even larger sums per incident.
Is the UK Holding Its Own Against Crypto Scams?
Data from Action Fraud revealed that the UK has already faced losses of £146,22,332 to cryptocurrency fraud since the beginning of 2024. While this figure might seem small relative to the vast losses in the US, it is dramatically high for the smaller nation of the UK, with almost a third more lost than in the whole of 2020.
Unlike many other offenses, cyber-enabled crime does not have a physical footprint, and as such, any strategic response is best driven at a national level.
City of London Police revealed that more than £612 million was lost to investment fraud in the UK last year, which is a lot for a population of about 68.35 million. As was the case in the US, cryptocurrency scams were the main kind of investment fraud carried out, signaling key weaknesses within the crypto sector.
Investment fraud destroys lives.
Temporary Detective Superintendent Oliver Little, from the Lead Force Operations Room at the City of London Police, stated: “Investment fraud destroys lives and is of particular concern to the older demographic of the UK public. Victims who are being targeted are those with a healthy amount of savings who have put their hard-earned money away for a rainy day or to help support family and have been robbed of those opportunities.”
Lloyds Bank reported towards the end of 2023 that these victims often make an average of three payments before realizing that they have been scammed, taking around 100 days from the date of the very first payment until they decide to report it to their bank. Fraudsters will go to great lengths to lure and deceive victims, setting up fake companies, social media profiles, and websites that clone real organizations.
What Action Needs to be Taken?
National and international watchdogs had increased crypto regulation drastically since 2018 when the FATF started to push this agenda. However, a vast amount of crypto scams start on social media platforms and dating sites. In sight of this, these platforms need to address the large quantities of fake profiles that are being used to lure in victims, with Facebook having reported having 1.5 million fake accounts in only the second half of 2023. Similarly, with companies being registered in Companies House that imitate legitimate organizations, increased vigilance needs to be implemented in the registration process. For more on fraudulent company registrations in Companies House, read “UK Business Identity Theft: Balancing the Blame.”
Social media platforms are the main breeding ground for this type of scam.
Liz Ziegler, Fraud Prevention Director at Lloyds Bank, states: “Predictably, social media platforms are the main breeding ground for this type of scam, with a mix of bogus ads, fake endorsements and cloned accounts being key to fraudsters’ methods. It’s time these tech firms took responsibility for protecting their customers, stopping scams at source, and contributing to refunds when their platforms are used to defraud innocent victims.”
Social media platforms need to implement secure identity verification methods to end the ever-growing fraudulent practices that begin with their digital walls. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Facebook removed nearly 700 million fake accounts, following the 827 million removed in the previous quarter. Despite these efforts, new suspicious accounts continue to emerge, highlighting a fundamental issue with the sign-up process. Platforms like Instagram and Twitter allow anyone to create an account quickly without verifying their identity, which leaves users vulnerable to potential risks.
Defending the Sector From Pig Butchering Scams
The tactics used in pig butchering scams—where fraudsters lure victims into fake investments through crafted trust-building techniques—require sophisticated defenses. ComplyCube’s solutions provide critical protection at every step of this scam lifecycle, empowering platforms to safeguard their users and assets against manipulation and deception.
Biometric Verification and Liveness Detection: Pig butchering scams often rely on fake profiles and stolen identities to gain victims’ trust. ComplyCube’s biometric verification and advanced liveness detection differentiate between real users and fraudsters using deepfake technology, effectively blocking synthetic and imposter accounts before they can even initiate contact.
Document Fraud Detection: Fraudsters use forged or manipulated documents to appear credible and reliable. ComplyCube’s document verification capabilities analyze uploaded IDs for authenticity, cross-referencing data points to catch fake documents. This helps prevent fraudsters from completing account setups and from gaining a foothold on platforms.
- Enhanced KYC and AML Screening: ComplyCube’s customizable KYC/AML screening ensures that high-risk users are identified and reviewed in real-time. By assessing risk factors associated with users’ backgrounds, such as known scam associations or financial irregularities, the system can block high-risk profiles proactively and minimize exposure to these threats.
Contact one of our compliance experts for more information on how to safeguard your platform from pig-butchering crypto scams.
