Source: Midjourney
Shreya Datta, a 37-year-old tech worker from Philadelphia, was left bankrupt after falling for a cryptocurrency romance scam. The scam, also referred to as “pig butchering,” entails con artists using dishonest methods to win over victims and fool them into purchasing fictitious cryptocurrency. Datta told France24 that she first came across “Ancel,” a charming French wine trader purporting to be based in Philadelphia, on the dating app Hinge, which is where the scam against her started. Before long, the two were chatting on WhatsApp, exchanging emoji-filled flirtatious messages, flirtatious selfies, and even quick video calls. Datta thought she had finally found a real connection in the vast ocean of online relationships, drawn in by Ancel’s charisma.
Dreams of Early Retirement and Financial Success
Ancel began sharing his aspirations of an early retirement and financial success through cryptocurrency investments as their virtual relationship deepened. He gave Datta access to a seemingly reliable cryptocurrency trading app and annotated screenshots of successful trades, which gave her more confidence and motivated her to make an investment. Datta was persuaded to switch her savings to cryptocurrency, take out loans, and even liquidate her retirement fund by Ancel’s smooth talk and persuasive methods. Datta had invested close to $450,000 by March, and her money seemed to have more than doubled on paper. Suspicion was aroused, though, when she tried to take her money out and the app demanded a personal “tax” payment. Upon conducting an investigation, Datta’s brother found that the images Ancel had sent were, in fact, of a German fitness influencer. Datta was shocked to learn that she had been duped and manipulated. It was like a tidal wave. Datta was devastated on an emotional level by the scam’s aftermath. She struggled to eat, sleep, and get by due to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She was deeply traumatized to realize that she had lost all of her money to a callous con artist.
Crypto Romance Scams Have Become Prevalent
The number of cryptocurrency romance scams, such as the one that Datta fell victim to, has skyrocketed, with billions of dollars lost just in the US. Over 40,000 instances of cryptocurrency fraud, including pig butchering, were reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2023, with losses exceeding $3.5 billion. Since many victims decide not to report the crimes out of embarrassment and shame, these numbers probably underestimate the true scope of the issue. These clever schemes are carried out by con artists who take advantage of their victims’ weaknesses and desires. To increase the appearance of authenticity, they fabricate identities, manipulate emotions, and use cutting-edge methods like deepfake videos. Many times, victims become trapped, are unable to recoup their losses, and are left feeling devasted and ashamed. Combating these scams is still a difficult task. Disinformation and the rise of AI-generated profile pictures are major issues for dating platforms. Reports are flooded into law enforcement organizations like the FBI, but recovering funds is frequently challenging, if not impossible. When victims turn to phony recovery agents for help, they might run into more scams. According to reports, Erin West, the Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara, California, says she gets five to six emails a day on average from people who have been the victims of pig butchering. “We are receiving 5-6 emails a day from people who are victims of pig butchering. The most recent victim lost $5 million dollars and that’s not even the biggest amount one victim has lost to this scam.”To make matters worse, trafficked people are used as virtual slaves by transnational criminal organizations in Cambodia and Myanmar to execute pig butchering schemes with the help of stolen funds.