CFTC and SEC Collaborate Against Pig Butchering Scams – What’s Happening?

• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) launched an awareness campaign against pig butchering scams.
• These scams are costing Americans billions of dollars per year, with many falling prey to the scammers' emotional tactics.
• Other organizations are collaborating, including the SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the North American Securities Administrators Association.
• Investors maintain a heavy responsibility of self-awareness when investing in crypto, as it's very easy to fall prey to scams.

With so many pig butchering victims sliced left and right, are the authorities finally taking action?

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is launching a collaborative initiativeto inform crypto investors about pig butchering scams - what they are, how they unfold, and how to avoid them.

Other federal agencies and groups are contributing, including the following:

1. SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy
2. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
3. North American Securities Administrators Association

Let's see how they plan to mitigate the pig butchers and what this means for crypto investors.

Social Engineering at Its Peak in Butchering Scams

In an infographic by the ABA Foundation (in collaboration with the agencies above, plus others), we get a good summary of pig butchering scams.

Criminal befriend people to entice them to make crypto investments through phony apps and websites. The investments may start out slowly with small sums of money, but it's a scam aimed at stealing tens of thousands to millions of dollars.ABA Foundation

The con starts with a pretext - a business investment, friendship, or romantic relationship. The scammer spends months building trust,faking an online profile, and winning your confidence.

It continues with an offer - you get invited to an exclusive investment platform, and the guru recommends youinvest small at first. You can usually withdraw your initial winnings until you invest a larger amount of money.

That's where the trapawaits. You suddenly can't withdraw your money for various reasons (like paying a fee), and your friendly guru vanishes. As it turns out, he wasn't so friendly after all.

The CFTC underlines several helpful steps to avoid falling prey to pig butchering scams, like identifying emotional triggers in communication (such as FOMO or fear).

Source: ABA Foundation

But is this enough to keep investors safe from financial slicing and dicing at the hands of scammers? Not necessarily, as the CFTC says it'severy investor's responsibility to stop scams before they start.

Press Release - Pig Butchering Costs Americans Billions Per Year

A CFTC press release underscores the importance of this initiative - pig butchering scams are estimated to cost Americans billions each year.'

Joining the CFTC are the SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the North American Securities Administrators Association.

They plan to distribute an investor alertand show how big' and threatening pig butchering scams are, even to savvy investors.

It targets individuals who think they would never fall for this type of scam by giving them an introspective on how these fraudsters have perfected their criminal craft to entice even the savviest investors.CFTC

They encourage anyone to contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center if they're a victim of crypto investment fraud.

Verdict - Witch Hunt Against Pig Butchers

Crypto scams are ever-present, and their effectiveness is through the roof. Investors are either greedy, not knowledgeable enough, or both.

Falling for that chance in a lifetime to make millions of dollars' is exceptionally easy, and if we don't keep our emotions in check, financial disaster is around the corner.

The CFTC's awareness initiative is good. Good enough, we could say. After all, crypto demands a significant degree of self-awareness and responsibility.

Hopefully, fewer will fall prey to big butchering scams.

References

• CFTC Partners with Federal and Private Groups to Distribute Cryptocurrency Relationship Investment Scam Information (CFTC)
• Crypto Investment Scams (ABA Foundation)
• Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

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