It's a lucrative scam with victims in multiple states, authorities warn.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez speaks on stage during 38th Annual Brooklyn Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, Jan. 15, 2024, in New York.Prosecutors in Brooklyn seized nearly two dozen web domains associated with a scheme known as "pig butchering" -- striking an online conversation with unsuspecting victims, gaining their trust and then steering them into bogus cryptocurrency investments.
The investments show tremendous returns but when the victims try to withdraw substantial sums they are blocked from their account and lose their entire investment, authorities say. "Pig butchering is a growing type of scam that defrauds residents of Brooklyn and the entire country out of billions of dollars every year," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "My office's strategy is to disrupt these schemes by seizing and shutting down their online infrastructure, and to educate the public about ways to avoid becoming a victim. Awareness and education are the first and best lines of defense against these prolific scams.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez speaks on stage during 38th Annual Brooklyn Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, Jan. 15, 2024, in New York.The victims in the Brooklyn investigation include a 51-year-old woman who lost $23,000 after she was added to online chat groups discussing crypto investments, according to prosecutors. She downloaded an app from coinformat.com, made eight deposits and believed her investment grew to nearly $400,000.
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