New Jersey Enforces Cease And Halt Orders Against Three ‘Pig Butcher’ Scammers

These Cybercriminals reach out to Romance-Seekers from Dating Apps like Kindling before Convincing them to Invest in their Fraudulent Cryptocurrency Investment Schemes.

The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has Ordered Three Website Operators to stop Tricking Romance-Chasing Victims into their Fraudulent Cryptocurrency Investment Schemes.

The Three Firms hit with the cease and stop orders were Meta Capitals Limited, Cresttrademining Limited and Forex Market Trade, according to a Feb. 3 public statement from New Jersey’s Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

Each of the three firms claimed to be Cryptocurrency trading platforms, where they would entice victims into copying the trades of their “Master Traders” so that they can make big returns.

These firms bring in victims by reaching out to romance seekers on dating apps like Kindling through what is known as the “pig butchering” Scam.

Online scammers are taking advantage of investors in a new scam known as “pig butchering” where victims are “fattened up” before scammers take all they can. With today’s cease and desist orders we're protecting NJ from cryptocurrency fraud. https://t.co/Q6xX5l4Ohk

— Attorney General Matt Platkin (@NewJerseyOAG) February 3, 2023

“Pig butchering” is a Scam where Cybercriminals use Social Media to contact victims, instigate a romantic relationship and afterward bait them into a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment plot whenever they’ve acquired their Trust.

“These scammers build up a feeling of Comradery among them and their victim — all to extract every penny they can from these people with promises of gigantic profits from investments.”

“We are working nonstop to Protect the Victims of these types of Scam and to show the Regulations still apply in the Internet.”

Acting Director Cari Fais of the Bureau’s Division of Consumer Affairs also trusts that the enforcement actions will clarify that they will “seek after scammers who go after people’s Trust.”

The crackdown comes as the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) detailed about 4,300 victims to have lost a combined $429 million from pig butcher scams alone in 2021.There are no statistics yet for 2022.

Chief of the Bureau of Securities Amy Kopleton Suggested that the pig butcher scam works well for fraudsters because their target crowd is as of now in a position of Vulnerability:

“Indeed, even the savviest of investors can struggle with recognizing fraud while it’s being perpetrated by someone for whom they have a romantic interest.”

The Companies hit with the Cease and stop orders were also found to have Violated New Jersey Securities Regulations by offering and Selling unregistered securities, the Bureau Said.

On top of that, Meta Capitals Limited and Cresttrademining Limited were also found to be operating as Unregistered Representative Dealers.

Pig butcher scams aren’t simply spinning out of Control in the United States by the same Token.

A Recent Investigation by the United Kingdom Bureau of Investigative News coverage on Jan. 29 found that of the 168 Forex Companies it considered to be taking part in fraudulent activity, about half of them had a linkage to pig butchering-like scams.