How a US-based Indian techie was duped of Rs 4 crore in 'pig butchering scam'
The con involved the use of digitally altered deepfake videos and a script so sophisticated that she felt her “brain was hacked”
An Indian-American software professional lost her life savings after falling prey to ‘pig butchering scam’ that involves online romance, fake crypto returns and human trafficking.
Shreya Datta, 37, a Philadelphia-based woman, was ensnared in a cryptocurrency romance fraud, in which she lost nearly Rs 4 crore or $4,50,000, that left her in a significant debt. Her ordeal started when she began dating a French wine trader, “Ancel”, on a dating app called Hinge. They quickly moved to WhatsApp, with “Ancel” strategically removing his Hinge profile to trap Datta into his illusion of love, according to news agency AFP.
The con involved the use of digitally altered deepfake videos and a script so sophisticated that she felt her “brain was hacked”. The scam is commonly known as “pig butchering”, with victims likened to hogs fattened up by fraudsters with feigned love and affection before the proverbial slaughter -- tricking them into a fake crypto investment.
Exploiting vulnerabilities
Their interactions, filled with selfies, flirtatious emojis, and shallow video calls, masked the deeper manipulation at play. “Ancel” skillfully exploited Datta’s vulnerabilities, including her recent divorce, while fabricating grandiose retirement plans funded by lucrative cryptocurrency investments. She began investing her savings into a seemingly legitimate crypto trading app.
Plans to physically meet kept getting pushed back, but Datta was not immediately suspicious. She received a bouquet from “Ancel” sent from a Philadelphia flower shop on the Valentine’s Day last year, with the card addressing her as “Honey Cream”.
“Ancel” sent her a link to download a crypto trading app, which came with two-factor authentication to make it appear legitimate, and showed her what he called money-making trades through annotated screenshots seen by AFP.
Luring to invest more
Datta converted some of her savings into cryptocurrency on the US-based exchange Coinbase and the fake app initially allowed her to withdraw her early gains, boosting her confidence to invest more. “As you make astronomical amounts of money trading, it messes with your normal risk perception,” Datta said in hindsight. “You feel like, Wow, I can do even more.”
“Ancel” persuaded her to invest more savings, take out loans and, despite her reluctance, liquidate her retirement fund. By March, Datta's nearly $450,000 investment had more than doubled on paper, but alarm bells went off when she tried to withdraw the amount and the app demanded a personal “tax”. Datta’s London-based brother uncovered Ancel’s true identity as a German fitness influencer.
Datta, who is in therapy and has moved to a smaller apartment to manage her debt, said she had little hope of recovery after reporting the crime to the FBI and Secret Service.
Instances galore: FBI
Meanwhile, the FBI told AFP that last year more than 40,000 people reported losses totalling well over $3.5 billion from cryptocurrency fraud, including pig butchering, to the agency's Internet Crime Complaint Center.
But that estimate is likely low, as many victims tend not to report the crime out of shame. “What's horrific about this crime is it is meant to take every last penny from its victim,” Erin West, a California-based prosecutor, told AFP, adding that she is “deluged with victims every day”.
Self-harm among victims is a common concern, campaigners say, with most unable to recover their losses and some falling prey to another breed of scammers -- fake recovery agents.
