CFTC partners with Federal and Private Groups to tackle pig butchering scams
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Office of Customer Outreach and Education (OCEO) has partnered with federal and private organizations to disseminate information about cryptocurrency relationship confidence fraud commonly known as pig butchering.
Crypto #investment or “relationship” scams are on the rise and @CFTC is releasing a prevention brochure in partnership with @ABABankers, @FBI, @FinCENnews, @FINRA, @HSI_HQ, @IRSnews, @SecretService, and @SEC_Investor_Ed. Learn more: https://t.co/Rc10CxD6An pic.twitter.com/W3SWNieJs3
— CFTC (@CFTC) September 11, 2024
In a press statement, the CFTC stated that partnerships with various organizations are a major aspect of OCEO's outreach initiatives to broaden its audience to include individuals who trust the partner organizations and may benefit from getting OCEO's anti-fraud information.
Director of the Office of Customer Education and Outreach Melanie Devoe said these partnerships center on relationship confidence fraud, which is estimated to cost Americans billions of dollars annually and is commonly referred to by its perpetrators as pig butchering.
According to data released earlier this week by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Americans lost $5.6 billion to cryptocurrency scams in 2023. That is 45% more than it was in 2022. Almost 700,000 reports of cryptocurrency fraud were filed with the FBI last year; $3.96 billion of the lost funds were the result of investment fraud.
The federal agency brought up the pig butchering scam in the report. In the past year, these scams have gradually replaced Ponzi schemes as fraudsters attempt to gain higher rewards through more targeted attacks.
Collaborating with federal and state regulators, consumer protection groups, and other organizations helps promote the CFTC's customer education message and hopefully reaches the individuals before they can get scammed.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the North American Securities Administrators Association, and the Office of Investor Education and Advocacy of the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission are collaborating with OCEO to develop and disseminate an investor alert that provides customers with a comprehensive understanding of how "pig butchering" scammers gain access to the thoughts and financial accounts of everyday well-informed individuals.
In order to help consumers identify and steer clear of so-called "pig butchering" fraud, OCEO is also collaborating with the American Bankers Association Foundation, other federal agencies, and a private regulator to distribute an infographic. The infographic shows warning indicators and actions to take if someone has been victimized, as well as an explanation of the scam's phases, from how victims are targeted and groomed to how it concludes.
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