Top enterprise concerns raised by so called 'romance' or 'pig butchering scams'
During "romance week" and Valentine's Day, your heart can be stolen in the blink of an eye, and so can your money. The FBI has warned of "romance" scams, centering the bulletin around the celebration of love, which demonstrates that it’s not just a box of chocolates that’s seducing people, it’s scammers and cyber criminals. Staggering new data from the FTC shows that last year, nearly 70,000 people reported a romance scam, and reported losses hit $1.3 billion. The median reported loss was $4,400.
Romance scams are a variation of what’s called "pig butchering," a type of social engineering attack that alludes to the practice of fattening up a hog before slaughtering it. The approach combines some time-tested elements of fraud -- such as gaining trust. It relies on the effectiveness of relationships nurtured on social media and the ease with which currencies can be moved electronically. In simpler terms, scammers are posing as lovers, gaining the trust of their fake beau, and then asking them for money for gifts, procedures, plane tickets, you name it.
Detection and protection from crypto romance scams
You likely know what risks you face if you invest in cryptocurrency. The crypto market is highly volatile, and its decentralized status means no central authority backs the value of digital currencies. Another threat to investors is crypto romance scams.
Anyone who owns any form of cryptocurrency is a potential target for crypto romance scams. Here’s how to detect them and strategies to protect your finances from malicious cybercriminals.