Scam Radar
Romance scams blend stolen photos, scripted conversations and slow-burn investment proposals. We catalogue the latest pig-butchering and catfish cases so victims can recognize the pattern before they wire money.
U.S. prosecutors have charged two suspects with laundering over $43 million stolen through online investment fraud scams, also known as pig butchering. Between 2020 and 2022, the defendants allegedly...
The FBI warns of a fraud scheme where scammers lure victims, often seniors, into fake cryptocurrency investments and then arrange in-person couriers to collect cash payments at the victim's home or a...
Task scams (a pig-butchering variant) start with an unsolicited text or WhatsApp/Telegram message offering easy remote work: 'rate hotels', 'like products', 'optimise apps', earning small amounts....
In 2025 the FBI IC3 received more than 22,000 complaints citing AI involvement, with losses exceeding USD 893 million. Criminals use generative AI to: clone a relative's or executive's voice from...
Pig-butchering is the most damaging investment-fraud scheme of 2025-2026. The scammer builds trust over weeks (often via a 'wrong number' text, dating app, or social media), then introduces a fake...
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) maintains a navigational catalog of fraud types that commonly target individuals across Canada. The list spans dozens of categories — from phishing, romance...
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre publishes a comprehensive A-Z index cataloguing the fraud patterns currently affecting Canadian consumers, businesses and seniors. It groups scams by family such as...
Scammers run WhatsApp/Telegram channels as 'SEBI-registered advisors' or 'Forbes fund managers'. Show 2 weeks of small wins, then demand large deposit. On withdrawal, demand '30% withdrawal tax'/'20%...
Scammers run LINE investment clubs (LINE投資クラブ) via Instagram/LINE ads featuring deepfakes of Japanese celebs (Maezawa, Watanabe). Promise AI-driven FX/crypto trading. 2024: ¥33.4B (~$220M) lost...
Terminal phase of pig butchering: victim sees inflated balance, tries to withdraw, blocked by sequential 'fees': IRS capital-gains tax 20%, AML verification 5%, liquidity unlock 10%, cross-border...
Multi-month variant: scammer never asks for money in months 1-4, builds 'genuine' romance (daily voice notes, gifts shipped via Shopify dropship). Around month 5-6 mentions investment success; by...
Targets C-suite/VP on LinkedIn; scammer poses as 'family-office quant in Zurich', often with purchased verified-looking LinkedIn. Pivots to Bumble Bizz, then Signal. Pitches 'private liquidity pool'...
Telegram channel 'VIP Signals 24/7' with 20-80k bot subs posts daily 'wins'. Admin DMs new members offering mentorship on 'partner exchange' ( .bitmex-pro[.]net, .bingx-vip[.]io). Indicators: (1)...
LinkedIn/Telegram/Upwork DM offers 'remote Web3 analyst' role at $4-8k/mo. After onboarding on Slack, the 'mentor' walks you through a fake DEX (clone of 1inch on uniswap-pro[.]app) and asks you to...
Targets Chinese-American/Canadian/Australian diaspora via WeChat groups, often introduced by fake 'auntie' (阿姨) referrals. Platform mirrors Huobi/OKX UI on .top/.live TLDs. Indicators: (1) WeChat...
Sha Zhu Pan: match on Tinder/Hinge/Bumble, conversation moves to WhatsApp in 48-72h. Persona claims 'uncle at Goldman' taught them trading. Indicators: (1) refuses live video; (2) introduces fake...
Europol Operation Cookie Monster (2025) dismantled networks running multilingual pig-butchering rings targeting EU professionals via LinkedIn and Tinder. Victims onboarded onto fake exchanges (cloned...
INTERPOL + UNODC: 200,000+ trafficked workers run pig-butchering and crypto scams from compounds in Cambodia (Sihanoukville), Myanmar (Myawaddy) and Laos (Bokeo SEZ), under armed guard. These rings...
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