The Justice Department announced Monday that judges in California, Idaho and Arizona seized six cryptocurrency accounts linked to investment scams worth more than $112 million.
The accounts were linked to sha zhu pan, loosely meaning pig-butchering scam in Chinese.
The con works like this: Victims are buttered up by the scammer for weeks and even months to gain the victim’s trust. Scammers then funnel investments to cryptocurrency platforms or co-conspirators posing as investment advisers or customer service personnel.
The money invested in fraudulent platforms or advisers goes directly to the virtual pockets of the conspirators. In the interim, the victim appears to make gains.
Once a larger investment is made, victims are denied access to their funds. Scammers then request more investment or payment of new fees and taxes, draining them of money until they are all out.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, which handled a Los Angeles case, said the single account seized was worth $66.4 million, gathered from at least 10 victims. The most common age bracket targeted by the scams is 30 to 49.
Pig-butchering schemes represented $2.57 billion in losses to consumers in 2022, a 183% increase from 2021. These conspiracies comprised most of the $3.31 billion in total lost to investment fraud as reported in 2022 to the FBI’s Internet Crimes Complaint Center.
The Justice Department did not identify any individuals tied to running the accounts in their announcement. Assistant Attorney General Ken Polite Jr. mentioned that the scams are transnational in nature.
Mr. Polite Jr. indicated the seized money would be returned to the victims.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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