2024-03-04 11:51:14
Times change, technologies evolve, develop and advance rapidly at rates that at times seem excessive and at the same rate cybercrime grows. In recent days, the results of a new report that is as revealing as it is alarming were known: it is estimated that there are already more than USD 75,000 million the amount that was stolen from different victimswith the most recent form of scam popularly known as “pig butchering”. A modality that advances at high speed, leaving a trail of victims globally.
The disturbing thing is that the new data shows a figure much higher than that calculated in previous studies. The data arises from the recently published survey work: How Do Crypto Flows Finance Slavery? The Economics of Pig Butchering, How Do Crypto Flows Fund Slavery? The economics of pig slaughter, in its Spanish translation. The report was prepared by John Griffin, professor in the Department of Finance at the University of Texas at Austin, and by Kevin Mei, a graduate student in the School of Business, from the same university.
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Both set about collecting cryptographic addresses of more than 4,000 victims of this type of fraud. Thus, they managed to trace the route and flow of funds originating from the victims’ accounts to the scammers, located in the most remote places on the planet, mainly in areas of Southeast Asia. The report notes that scammers “interact freely and send more than 104,000 small potential incentive payments to build trust with victims.”
The report revealed that 84% of the volume of fraudulent transactions was carried out in the tether stable digital currency. Thus, between January 2020 and February 2024, criminal organizations transferred million-dollar sums in dollars to cryptocurrency exchanges, the authors explained.
Pig butchering: What is it about?
In dialogue with Modo Fontevecchia, Jorge LitvinCEO of Safe-U, a cybersecurity company, explained that “the numbers of cyberattacks continue to multiply at a pace that causes panic, and the success of criminals does not rely as much on the vulnerability of computer systems as it does on the of the system most vulnerable to deception: the human.”
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The specialist points out that recently a modality called “Pig Butchering” or “pig fattening”. This is a type of fraud, focused on the psychological manipulation of victims so that they invest in fraudulent schemes, especially in cryptocurrencies, stocks, or fictitious investments. The criminals’ methodology can be summarized in the following stages:
-Creation of a profile: The attackers begin by creating a false identity or impersonating a real one, emulating being an attractive and successful person (for many the ideal decoy). They can use third-party photos or leverage AI to generate synthetic but compelling content.
-Initial contact: Contact is established through social networks, forums, dating applications or messaging platforms with individuals who are looking for relationships or are interested in new investment opportunities. Another modality detected has been to “send a message by mistake” and after apologizing, begin to generate interaction. Responders are then lured into false cryptocurrency investments.
-Building the relationship: The victim’s trust is gained through friendly or romantic conversations that can last weeks or even months.
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“Investments” begin
Once contact has been established and trust has been gained with the victim, we move on to the action stage and the moment of sweetening with the idea of profitable investments.
-Introduction of investment: Once trust is gained, the scammer introduces the idea of a first lucrative investment, showing false testimonials of success.
-First investment: The victim is encouraged to make a small, initial investment that appears to generate large returns quickly.
-Major investments: Confident with the initial success, the victim is encouraged to invest larger sums of money.
The final blow comes just when the victim wants to withdraw their funds, there they face multiple obstacles, until finally, due to lack of response or blocking by the contact, they realize that they have been scammed. The name of this form of scam is eloquent: the criminal leads the victim to increase his investment until it is large enough to deal the final blow. He refers to farmers’ routine of fattening pigs before slaughtering them.
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Who are the attackers?
“The Internet has no borders, so attacks can come from anywhere in the world. However, significant operations have been identified in Asia, especially in countries such as China and others in Southeast Asia,” Litvin noted. According to the report, “the people sending the messages are often victims of human trafficking, lured to centers in countries like Cambodia and Burma with offers of well-paid jobs, then caught, forced to scam.”
How to identify, prevent and take care of these deceptions?
-Be skeptical: If something looks too good to be true, there’s probably something hidden behind it. Be wary of high-return investments with little or no risk, especially if the offer comes from someone you met online.
-Verify information: Do a search on the investment opportunities offered and the person you are contacting. Before making an investment, speaking with a financial professional may be the best option.
If you suspect you are a victim of a scam or cyber attack, stop all communication and collect evidence: Save communications, transfers, profile URLs, telephone line numbers. Report consummated or attempted fraud to local authorities (ideally in Court or Prosecutor’s Office). Do not report on the social network or messaging platform to avoid the risk of losing evidence due to account cancellation.
JL
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