According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued three individuals and five companies, accusing them of operating a "pig-killing" scam. This scam uses social media applications to gain the trust of victims, trick them into investing in fake crypto platforms, and eventually disappear with the money.
This is the first time the SEC has taken enforcement action against this type of crypto scam, and it comes just ahead of a hearing by the U.S. House Financial Services Committee. SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir S. Grewal said such scams pose a significant risk to retail investors and the threat is growing.
The SEC's lawsuit against the NanoBit platform alleges that three U.S. residents allegedly defrauded at least 18 investors of nearly $1 million through the platform. The suspects posed as financial professionals, tricked investors into investing their money into the NanoBit platform, displayed false returns, and then disappeared with the money.
Another lawsuit against the CoinW6 platform alleges that participants posed as young professionals and established romantic relationships through social media, luring at least 11 investors into investing $2.2 million. Victims were deceived by fake profit interfaces and were even advised to invest from retirement accounts or borrow money.
A recent FBI report showed that investors lost a record $5.6 billion to crypto scams last year, of which $4 billion were investment scams, including "pig killing" scams.
