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FBI Director Patel Vows to Hunt Crypto ‘Pig Butchering' Scammers
FBI Director Kash Patel posts he will hunt crypto 'pig butchering' scammers. The bureau seized $8B in bitcoin in May's Operation Blackout and has saved $500M through victim warnings.
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FBI Director Kash Patel has a message for crypto fraudsters: the bureau is coming for them.
Patel posted on social media that the FBI will find the people running socially engineered crypto scams, known as “pig butchering” schemes, and bring them to justice. The term refers to a long-game fraud in which criminals build trust with victims online – often through dating apps or messaging platforms – and then persuade them to deposit large sums of crypto into fake investment platforms. Elderly users and teenagers are common targets.
The warning is not just words. In May, the FBI seized $8 billion in cryptocurrency as part of “Operation Blackout,” a sweep taking aim at scam centres in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The operation netted over 127,000 bitcoin and led to more than 300 arrests across Cambodia, Dubai and Thailand, with assistance from Elon Musk’s Starlink. China later confirmed its role, saying 276 suspects were arrested and nine compounds shut down.