Crypto pig butchering scams wiped out $3.6 billion in 2024: report

• Crypto scams around pig butchering saw crypto users lose over $3.6 billion in 2024.
• This reflects a 40% surge in the past year.

Pig butchering scams hit highest in 2024 to crypto users,according to a report issued by Cyvers. The web3 security company said that fraud schemes cost crypto users $3.6 billion on the Ethereum blockchain.

According to the report, there was an increase of cyber fraud by 40% higher than the previous year. There were 165 incidents with a record loss totalling $2.3 billion.

$3.6 Billion Stolen in 2024’s Pig Butchering Scams

This year saw the crypto world rocked by pig butchering scams, which swindled unsuspecting users out of a jaw-dropping $3.6 billion—most of it on Ethereum.
Read more on @nairametrics at: https://t.co/75rZ5fNOUM

These scams…

— Cyvers Alerts (@CyversAlerts) December 27, 2024

The scammers operated on Ethereum blockchain.

As per Cyvers, a record of 150,000 addresses and 800,000 fraud cases was noted. The main of the blockchain’s loopholes was its ease of access.

Scammers made payments totalling to over 100,000 in small bits to their victims. Access control breaches accounted for 67 incidents valued at $1.9 billion. Fraudsters also used smart contract vulnerabilities  with 98 incidents worth $456.8 million.

Crypto users’ losses to scammers were on the rise in 2024. Among the exchanges scammed include DMM exchange ,WazirX. Fraudsters scammed WazirX $235 million while DMM exchange lost $305 million. Cyber attackers accessed DMM exchange and compromised a private key in the platform’s Bitcoin hot wallet.

BingX lost $52 million to fraudsters when scammers accessed the exchange’s hot wallet and did funds transfer through different addresses.

Despite the security hitches, recovery attempts were made ensuring victims got part of their funds. About $1.3 billion was recovered and returned to holders in 2024.

With 53 cases reported in 2024 Q1 ,Q3 recorded a loss of about $760 million which was the highest amount lost in 2024. The last quarter had the least number of cases and losses