Scammers used pig butchering schemes to steal more than $5.5 billion from crypto investors in 2024, according to a new report from blockchain security firm Cyvers. These scams, which have become one of the most dangerous threats to the crypto industry, affected over 200,000 victims last year alone.
Pig butchering is a type of long-term scam where fraudsters build trust with their targets before stealing their money. The name comes from the idea of “fattening up” victims before taking everything from them.
Scammers usually start by contacting potential victims through social media, messaging apps, or even dating platforms.
They pretend to be friendly, helpful, or even romantic partners. Over time, they convince victims to invest in what seems like a profitable investment opportunity.
At first, the scam appears legitimate. The victim may even see small profits, which are meant to increase trust.
However, once the victim invests more money, the scammer suddenly disappears, taking all the funds. Since these scams involve cryptocurrency, recovering stolen money is extremely difficult, making them especially dangerous.
How big was the damage in 2024?
Cyvers’ report revealed that pig butchering scams hit the Ethereum network the hardest. Over $5.5 billion was stolen across 200,000 identified cases. The scams targeted both individual investors and large trading platforms.
December 2024 was the worst month, with losses reaching $468 million. This was even higher than the $424 million lost in November.
As the scams continue to grow, Cyvers worries that 2025 could bring even greater losses if investors do not take stronger precautions.
Who were the most affected?
The report highlighted that 75% of victims lost more than half of their total net worth. Many of these investors had built their savings over years, only to see it vanish in a matter of weeks or months.
The data also showed that men between the ages of 30 and 49 were the most common targets.
Among the ten most affected platforms, Cyvers identified three of the five largest centralized crypto exchanges. In addition, a crypto-friendly bank and an institutional trading platform were also hit hard.
These platforms unknowingly became tools for scammers to funnel stolen funds, making it harder for authorities to track and recover the money.
Combating Pig Butchering scams
According to Cyvers, stopping these scams requires blocking contact between scammers and victims. Social media platforms can facilitate this by removing fake profiles. Cyvers praised Meta for deleting two million scam accounts last November and commended Google for suing developers of fake apps with over 100,000 downloads.
Furthermore, it stated that global law enforcement must collaborate to dismantle scam hubs in Southeast Asia and their networks.
Although large crackdowns are infrequent due to challenges and a lack of political will, authorities need clear data to track fraudulent transactions and trace the money. This necessitates both on-chain and off-chain evidence that meets legal standards.
It also noted that blocking fund transfers to scammers is another way to fight fraud. Traditional finance has done this for years using payment providers like Mastercard and Visa.
They track user accounts, transaction patterns, and fund destinations to spot and stop fraud. By analyzing transaction speed, repeated transfers, and suspicious behavior, they can detect scams early.
In 2022, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning on the pig butchering scamming technique. Since then, scammers have stolen billions of dollars from victims.
