Journalist
Hassan Shittu
Journalist
Hassan Shittu
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The multibillion-dollar “pig-butchering” scam industry, once treated as a consumer-fraud issue, is now being described as a growing national security concern, according to a new discussion featuring Chainalysis and anti-fraud investigators.
On a recent podcast, Andrew Fierman, head of national security intelligence at Chainalysis, and former prosecutor Erin West, founder of Operation Shamrock, detailed how pig-butchering has evolved into a transnational crime model that blends human trafficking, money laundering, and crypto-driven fraud.
Both experts warned that the scale of these schemes and the criminal networks behind them has expanded far beyond traditional scam activity.
Why Are Pig-Butchering Rings Exploding Despite Billions in Seizures?
West said the threat now touches every corner of the financial system. “If anybody is touching money in any way, you’re part of this,” she said, stressing that the issue requires deeper awareness from banks, exchanges, and regulators.
Pig-butchering scams rely on long-term social engineering. Criminals build trust with victims, often through dating apps, social media, or unsolicited messages, before steering them toward fake cryptocurrency investment platforms.
The goal is to “fatten” victims with false profits before draining their accounts entirely.
Fierman and West described how criminal groups across Southeast Asia run dormitory-style compounds where trafficked workers are forced to operate these schemes.
Victims abroad lose life savings, while victims inside the compounds are held against their will and coerced into participating.
Chainalysis data shows that pig-butchering activity surged by nearly 40% in 2024, contributing to more than $9.9 billion in overall crypto scam revenue that year.
The U.S. Department of Justice seized about $225 million linked to these scams in 2023, one of several early indicators of how large the ecosystem has become.
The experts also pointed out a secondary layer of exploitation that often goes unreported.
After victims are defrauded, they are frequently contacted again by fake recovery firms posing as law enforcement or private investigators.
“Once this happens to you, you will be put on a list,” West said. “You are even more likely to get hit up again.”
Pig-Butchering Scams Spur Coordinated Global Enforcement as Losses Reach Record Levels
The surge in pig-butchering scams is unfolding alongside a series of major international enforcement actions.
In October, U.S. authorities announced the largest crypto seizure ever tied to global online fraud, targeting Cambodia-based Prince Holding Group and its chairman, Chen Zhi.
At the same time, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 146 people and entities connected to the group, describing it as a transnational criminal enterprise engaged in fraud, extortion, and forced labor.
Private-sector involvement has expanded alongside these government efforts. In August, Tether froze nearly $50 million in USDT linked to a Southeast Asia-based pig-butchering ring after investigators traced the funds across 19 addresses.
That same month, Binance joined the T3+ intelligence initiative, led by TRON, Tether, and TRM Labs, helping freeze nearly $6 million tied to another scam case.
The exchange said its internal systems prevented 7.5 million users from losing almost $10 billion to fraud between December 2022 and May 2025.
Coinbase has participated in similar efforts. In June, the exchange assisted the U.S. Secret Service in recovering $225 million in USDT, one of the agency’s largest crypto seizures.
Investigators traced the funds to 140 OKX accounts, many registered under trafficking victims coerced into running scam operations.
The scale of losses continues to escalate. The FBI’s latest Internet Crime Report shows Americans lost more than $9 billion to online investment fraud last year.
TRM Labs estimates that more than $53 billion in crypto-related fraud has been tracked globally since 2023—likely only a fraction of actual losses.
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