Texas Border Business
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The scenario is sadly all too common: people make a connection online and develop relationships that often feel authentic—whether professional, platonic, or romantic. After gaining trust, their new online partner presents a seemingly legitimate investment opportunity in cryptocurrency, promising big returns.
Unfortunately, both the relationships and the investments are fake, causing some victims to lose their entire life savings, homes, or retirement accounts. Law enforcement, members of the media, and criminals use different terms to describe these scams, often referring to them by the derogatory term “pig butchering.” The FBI categorizes them as confidence-enabled cryptocurrency investment fraud.
“It’s a growing problem, and it’s a big problem affecting many Americans,” said James Barnacle, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division.
But through Operation Level Up, the FBI is trying to save victims from losing their hard-earned money.
Level Up is a proactive initiative to identify and notify victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud. Using sophisticated techniques, the FBI identifies victims who are actively being defrauded and promptly intervenes by calling those victims directly.
As of January 2025, the FBI has notified more than 4,300 potential victims, saving them an estimated $285 million.
One victim contacted by the FBI told agents he was planning to invest an additional $1 million before he picked up their call. Another planned to sell her home to make a $500,000 investment, and another withdrew $500,000 from his retirement account. After the FBI’s intervention, these victims did not make any further investments.
Most of the victims contacted by the FBI are unaware they are being scammed. Some victims were so emotionally impacted by the scam, they were referred to the FBI Victim Services Division and provided direct support or suicide intervention.
“It’s really important for us to intervene and interdict and try to do something,” said Barnacle.
About the scams
These scammers are professionals—this is their job, and they’re highly skilled and experienced in it. They target victims from all walks of life through various channels, including texts messages, social media, professional networking websites, investment groups, and dating websites. Most of the victims are between ages 30 and 60, tech-savvy, and actively seeking financial investment opportunities.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3, victims reported $3.9 billion in estimated losses from investment fraud related to cryptocurrency in 2023. Unfortunately, this number is likely much higher since many victims don’t report or underreport their losses. Approximately 3,200 cryptocurrency investment fraud complaints are filed with IC3 each month.
For many people, the promise of wealth and financial stability can overshadow possible warning signs. Even initially skeptical victims can be deceived when they are directed to realistic-looking investment platforms or apps controlled and created by scammers.
“Victims are solicited to put money into an investment opportunity,” said Barnacle. “They are shown terrific investment returns. It looks like on paper or an electronic application or a website, that their money is performing and they’re making a lot of money. However, it”s a dummy account and when victims try to withdraw their money, they are denied.”
The scammers create these fake platforms that often display false account balances and show “profits” from previous investments to build trust and encourage victims to invest more money over time. Some fraudsters even allow victims withdraw a portion of their supposed profits early on—knowing this tactic will build confidence and lead to additional investments.
Protecting and preventing
Prevention and education are the keys to stopping these scammers. We know that some victims are reluctant to trust unsolicited warnings when they are initially contacted by the FBI. When victims receive these calls, FBI agents will offer ways to confirm their identities. The FBI will never ask you for your personally identifying information, for money, or to move your assets to a new account.
The FBI also knows some individuals involved in criminal activity may try to discourage victims from heeding our warnings. It’s important to stay vigilant and cautious if someone advises you to disregard communications from the FBI or provides you with instructions on how to respond to the FBI.
Operation Level Up outreach also helps the FBI gather additional leads and information about the criminals perpetrating these frauds. In addition to warning and helping victims, the FBI is pursuing a multi-pronged investigative approach to address the financial, infrastructure, and organized crime components operating the schemes.
The FBI will continue to work with domestic and international partners to identify, target, and disrupt criminal organizations facilitating these cryptocurrency confidence fraud schemes. In addition, the FBI shares illicit domains and accounts identified by Operation Level Up with the private sector so they can take any action they deem appropriate.
Take a beat
As with many scams, criminals engaging in cryptocurrency investment fraud will instill a false sense of urgency or isolation. The FBI encourages the public to resist acting quickly and to “Take A Beat”—pause for a moment and assess the situation.
Do your own research before making investments and be aware of who you are communicating with online. If you meet someone online or through an unsolicited text message and that person pitches an investment opportunity, beware: this is likely cryptocurrency investment fraud.
Anyone who believes they are the victim of an online fraud should immediately contact their banks and file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Then, reach out to friends and family to talk about it, as this can help prevent loved ones from falling victim to similar scams.
