Aaron KaterskyDarla Miles has more on the victims cheated out of millions in a scam known as pig butchering.The Brooklyn district attorney's office on Thursday 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.
Brooklyn-based victims have been scammed out of $5 million after they were convinced to invest in cryptocurrency by someone they met through a random text message, a dating site or through a WhatsApp group. 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, prosecutors said.
"Pig butchering is a growing type of scam that defrauds residents of Brooklyn and the entire country out of billions of dollars every year. 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.