Pig Butchering Scams Are Increasingly Common: Chainalysis Report

Key Points:

• Scammers are using shorter, more impactful pig butchering scams to deceive victims in crypto markets.
• Increased enforcement and blacklist efforts are pushing criminals toward quicker scams.
• Fraudsters are utilizing unregulated platforms like Huione Guarantee for potentially illicit crypto transactions.

A report by blockchain analysis company Chainalysis noted a rapid increase in the so-called pig butchering scams in the cryptocurrency sector.

Read more: DOJ Seized $112 Million In Crypto-Related To Pig Butchering Scam

Pig Butchering Scams Surge, But Only Days

Pig butchering scams pose as romance or investment opportunities to bleed targets out of their money. The report said the scams are getting shorter and more effective because online fraudsters are adapting to evade detection and disruptors.

Chainalysis points out that though each of the various types of illicit activity is on the rise, pig butchering scams still lead in the crypto crime landscape. Already in 2024, billions of dollars of cryptocurrency have flowed to illicit accounts. Their average lifespan has shrunk from 271 days for those that started in 2020 to a mere 42 days for scams starting this year.

Unregulated Platforms Raise Concerns Over Illicit Crypto Activity

It also shows that criminals are increasingly moving away from long-term Ponzi schemes to faster-acting pig butchering scams, a shift in part driven by improved law enforcement efforts and proactive steps by stablecoin issuers in blacklisting suspicious addresses.

Among these was a wallet linked to the notorious scam operation KK Park in Myanmar, responsible for swindling victims of more than $100 million this year alone. Recently, scammers have bought pre-existing social media profiles from services headquartered out of China as a way to build trust with potential victims on sites like Facebook, Tinder, and Match.com.

And as the regulations tighten, some resort to unregulated markets such as Huione Guarantee, operated from Cambodia, where there have been $49 billion in crypto transactions since 2021, with fears it may be linked to illicit activities.