In the past year, Crypto scammers have pivoted away from running large and complex Ponzi schemes to favouring more targeted pig butchering scams a report by Chainalysis revealed.
“There is a macro trend consistent with the continued pivot of scammers from elaborate Ponzi schemes that cast a wide net to more targeted campaigns like pig butchering or address poisoning, driven in part by increasing enforcement efforts and stablecoin issuers blacklisting scam addresses,” The report stated
Pig Butchering scams which are more targeted and personal often involve cultivating a long-term relationship with the supposed victim which can often get romantic.
The victims after a long period of familiarization with the scammers are coerced to invest in a fraudulent crypto investment scheme which often cuts off the victims once money has changed hands.
The report highlighted Myanmar in South East Asia as a global hotspot for these scams with a particular region known as KK Park the epicenter of fraudulent schemes.
The report highlighted that many of these scammers are actually kidnapped and trafficked people who are forced to work in labour camps doing these scams in large compounds.
KK Park in Myanmar
KK Park in Myanmar has become renowned for its Pig butchering operations and fraudulent activities. The region has been linked to one of the largest crypto wallet addresses involved in pig butchering and other fraudulent schemes.
Aside from crypto, the region is also notorious for Internet fraud and human trafficking.
“The KK Park wallet was first observed on-chain in 2022, and scamming operations using this address continue to generate significant revenue, netting over $100 million so far this year. Those funds could have come both from scam victims and from ransom payments submitted by families attempting to save their trafficked family members,” The report added.
An investigation by German media outlet Deutsche Well revealed that workers trapped in this KK Park region are forced to work 17 hours a day and are threatened with death should they try to escape.
Scamming groups from this region are also good at internet fraud where they purchase Facebook and Tinder accounts from Chinese suppliers to perfect their impersonation games.
What to Know
Pig Butchering Scams is a type of investment fraud where a victim is gradually convinced to invest in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. The name comes from the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter, which is similar to how scammers build trust with their victims over time.
A US bank executive was recently jailed for 24 years for orchestrating a Pig Butchering Scam leading to the collapse of his bank.
