Urges Financial Institutions to be Vigilant and Report Suspicious Activity
WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published an analysis and an alert to financial institutions to be vigilant to digital asset investment scams perpetrated by overseas scam centers. Today’s action is the latest in Treasury’s efforts to protect Americans from fraud.
Digital asset investment scams—also known as “pig butchering,” “romance baiting,” or “cryptocurrency confidence schemes”—are sophisticated fraud operations. Criminals use fake personas and social engineering tactics to manipulate victims, who are often American, into transferring funds to fraudulent digital asset investments. These scams are largely perpetrated by transnational criminal organizations based in Southeast Asia, which operate industrial-scale scam compounds and leverage…
Report any lost or stolen ID documents immediately to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and get a case number to protect yourself from future identity fraud liability.