The U.S. Treasury says banks and cryptocurrency firms should step up reporting of cyber-enabled investment scams after FinCEN linked nearly $12.7 billion in losses to more than 33,000 incident reports filed from September 2023 through December 2025. The alert focuses on so-called pig-butchering scams run by transnational scam centers, often starting with romance or investment lures on social media and ending with wire transfers or crypto purchases, especially involving Ethereum, USDT, and USDC.
Why it matters: This is a major fraud trend affecting consumers nationwide and a concrete warning to financial institutions to improve detection and reporting. Banks, crypto platforms, and investigators should watch for customers liquidating retirement or investment accounts for crypto transfers, while the public should be wary of online romance or investment pitches and fake asset-recovery offers.
2026.09.10
100% relevant
The article establishes a distinct Treasury/FinCEN alert and dataset on pig-butchering and related crypto investment scams, centered on new official loss figures, reporting expectations, and scam-pattern findings rather than a previously tracked enforcement action or victim-specific breach.
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