JAY STREET — Working with elaborate detail and website analysis, an investigative unit specializing in virtual currency in the Brooklyn DA’s office successfully disrupted a “pig butchering operation” that defrauded people from across the United States out of millions of dollars. Pig butchering refers to the practice of striking an online conversation with an unsuspecting person — through a random text message, a dating site match or by adding them to WhatsApp or another online group — gaining their trust and then steering them towards investing in cryptocurrency through websites and apps that are, in reality, bogus. The investments show tremendous returns, but when the victims try to withdraw substantial sums, they are blocked from their accounts and lose their entire investment.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Pig butchering is a growing type of scam that defrauds residents of Brooklyn and the entire country out of billions of dollars every year. My office’s strategy is to disrupt these schemes by seizing and shutting down their online infrastructure and to educate the public about ways to avoid becoming a victim. Awareness and education are the first and best lines of defense against these prolific scams. Investment returns that seem too good to be true are almost always just that — fake. So, I urge everyone to be very skeptical of anyone whom they haven’t met in person and who offers a lucrative investment opportunity in cryptocurrency.”

The District Attorney said he established the Virtual Currency Unit in the fall of 2023 after hearing many complaints from Brooklyn residents who lost substantial sums to cryptocurrency scams. One was from a 51-year-old woman who, in March 2023, reported to the NYPD that she lost $22,680 after she was added to online chat groups discussing crypto investments. She was advised to download an app from coinformat.com and subsequently made eight deposits, seeing her profits rapidly climbing. Her account grew to a supposed total of $387,495, but when she tried to withdraw her initial investment, she was told she had to pay taxes. When she complained, she was blocked from the chat group and her money was gone.