HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - The Alabama Securities Commission is warning people about a pig butchering scam.
Officials with the commission are seeing a rise in the new cryptocurrency scam.
The scam involves someone being tricked into investing in a fake crypto website.
There have been multiple reports of this happening in just the past three weeks.
Recently, four victims combined have lost over a million dollars to this scam.
They lost that money after scammers initially reached out via text or social media to gain their trust.
Once the scammer has gained the victim’s trust, they direct them to a fake cryptocurrency website.
Amanda Senn with the Alabama Security Commission said the victims then invested real money through the fake website.
“These websites look identical to other financial websites,” said Senn. ”You can log in to many of these sites and pull up a statement that appears to show that you’re making some money. And so the suspect tells the victim. ‘Hey, you know, I’ve been making lots of money in cryptocurrency. Oh, you’re not familiar with it? Let me help you there.’ So they get the victim to invest through their fake website and provide some returns.”
The fraudster then ends the scheme by asking for a large sum of money before cutting off all contact with the victim.
Senn explained that once the money gets into the hands of these criminals, it’s almost impossible to recover.
She said you should always be skeptical if someone asks you for money out of the blue.
“If you’re talking with someone that you don’t know, and they’re asking for money... Major red flag,” said Senn. ”Do not provide anyone money that you’ve met online or that contacts you via text message. Fraudsters are now beginning to use text messaging to initiate contact. And some of these appear so real and so legitimate that it’s hard to tell what’s true and what’s not.
Senn told WAFF 48 that fraudsters are skilled at using social media to target people.
“Fraudsters can easily put together a victim profile and target you specifically with the amount of information that we make available about ourselves online,” said Senn. ”It’s a numbers game for them. So they sit behind a computer or telephone all day long to build a relationship with you and steal your money.”
Senn said there are over 50 victims of recent crypto fraud in North Alabama.
Karen Reeves with the Better Business Bureau of North Alabama said that number is likely higher.
Just yesterday, the Alabama Security Commission received a report of someone falling for the scam from someone they met on a dating app.
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