US Attorney's Office files action to recover $2.3 million in crypto from 'pig butchering' scheme

The U.S. Attorney's Office has filed an action to recover cryptocurrency that was traceable to a "pig butchering" scheme targeting a Massachusetts resident and 36 others. 

The government seeks to forfeit about $2.3 million in a variety of cryptocurrencies, including USD coin, tether, ether and solana, according to a statement on Wednesday. Authorities say they started an investigation into the scheme in the spring of 2023 and revealed that crypto had been seized from funds associated with 37 victims, including the Massachusetts resident. That resident specifically was tricked into wiring $400,000 to a crypto wallet "hosted by a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange," according to the statement. 

"Some of the funds were traced to two Binance accounts and the cryptocurrency was seized in January 2024," the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts said. "The investigation revealed that the accounts from which the cryptocurrency was seized had been associated with funds from 36 other victims of fraud located across the United States."

Past warnings

Pig butchering is a technique in which scammers establish trust online and then get the victim to invest in a crypto scheme before the victim realizes they have been defrauded. Regulators in the U.S. have warned investors of the technique and have brought charges against some bad actors.  

For example, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued warnings and charged digital asset platform Debiex with fraud last month for allegedly using pig butchering to take $2.3 million from investors. 

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also warned investors recently when it issued an alert late last year on pig butchering.