The FBI launched Operation Level Up specifically to identify and notify crypto investment fraud victims early — before they lose everything. Of the 8,103 victims notified, 77% had no idea they were being scammed. The FBI referred 80 victims for suicide intervention. One elderly victim on disability pay had already paid $1,200 and was about to cut into his food money. If the FBI contacts you about this, take it seriously — and verify the email comes from an @fbi.gov address before responding.
What Is Investment and Crypto Fraud?
Investment fraud targeting seniors takes several forms, but the dominant and most financially devastating in 2025–26 is cryptocurrency investment fraud, commonly known as "pig butchering" — a term from the Chinese phrase "shā zhū pán," describing how scammers fatten victims with trust and fake profits before taking everything.
Unlike most scams that rely on urgency and panic, investment fraud works through patience. Scammers spend weeks or months building genuine-feeling relationships, then introduce investment opportunities that appear spectacularly profitable — before disappearing with every dollar invested.
According to the FBI's 2025 IC3 report, investment fraud accounted for 49% of all cybercrime-related losses in 2025, with seniors bearing a disproportionate share: adults 60 and older lost $4.43 billion to crypto-related fraud alone — nearly double what victims in their 50s lost, despite seniors making up only about 17% of the US population.
How Pig Butchering Works — The Complete Playbook
Stage 1: The Approach
Contact begins innocuously. The most common entry points are a "wrong number" text that leads to a friendly conversation, a connection request on LinkedIn or Facebook, a message from an attractive stranger on a dating app, or even a random comment exchange in a social media group. The profile is polished — photos of an attractive, successful-looking person, often claiming to work in finance, medicine, or engineering abroad.
According to Chainalysis, the average scam payment jumped from $782 in 2024 to $2,764 in 2025 — a 253% increase — reflecting increasingly sophisticated targeting and longer grooming periods that produce larger individual payouts.
Stage 2: The Relationship (Weeks to Months)
Daily communication builds genuine emotional connection. The scammer is attentive, remembers details, shares what feel like personal disclosures, and gradually becomes a trusted presence. AI-powered chat tools now allow organised operations to manage hundreds of simultaneous "relationships," adjusting tone based on how each victim responds.
No mention of money is made for weeks. This patience is deliberate — the FBI found that 76% of pig butchering victims had no idea they were being scammed when first contacted by law enforcement, because the relationship-building phase was so convincing.
What Scammers Actually Say — Documented Phrases
The following language is drawn from FBI and FTC case documentation and reflects phrases that appear consistently across pig butchering prosecutions. Recognising them in real-time is the primary defense.
The pattern is consistent across hundreds of prosecuted cases: no payment demanded in Stages 1–3, then escalating unavoidable fees once you try to withdraw. If any of these phrases appear in a conversation with someone you met online — regardless of how genuine the relationship feels — treat it as a significant warning sign.
Stage 3: The Investment Introduction
Your new contact casually mentions their investment success — usually cryptocurrency trading on a platform they've been using. They offer to show you. The platform looks professional: real-time price data, account dashboards, transaction history, customer service. You invest a small amount. It appears to grow quickly. You're shown that you can make a small withdrawal — which actually happens, to build trust.
The fake platform shows whatever profits the scammer wants it to show. The "account balance" is fabricated data on a custom website designed to look like a real exchange. Your money was transferred out the moment you sent it.
Stage 4: Escalation
Impressed by the apparent returns, you invest more — often moving retirement savings, liquidating investments, or taking out loans. Some victims sell their homes. One victim the FBI contacted was in the process of selling their house to invest $500,000 when Operation Level Up intervened. Another was about to liquidate their 401(k).
Scammers show you increasingly large fake profits to justify increasingly large deposits. "You're so close to a major milestone — a little more investment unlocks higher-tier returns." The profits are never real. The platform is a screen.
Stage 5: The Withdrawal Block
When you try to withdraw funds, problems appear. There are taxes to pay first. Then a verification fee. Then a regulatory compliance hold. Then a "security deposit." Each payment is designed to extract more money before you stop. None of these fees will ever result in a withdrawal. Paying them simply costs you more.
When you've paid every fee they can invent, the relationship, the platform, and every dollar disappear simultaneously.
Scammers increasingly direct victims to physical cryptocurrency ATMs — kiosks found in pharmacies, gas stations, and convenience stores. They instruct victims to deposit cash, which converts instantly to cryptocurrency sent to a scammer-controlled wallet. Crypto ATM fraud cost older Americans $257 million in 2025, a 58% increase from 2024. No legitimate investment requires cash deposits at a kiosk. If anyone asks you to use a crypto ATM for any reason, it is a scam.
Other Investment Fraud Types
Ponzi and Pyramid Schemes
Fraudulent investment funds that pay early investors using money from newer investors, creating the illusion of returns until the operator vanishes with remaining funds. These are often promoted through trusted community or religious networks — a tactic called "affinity fraud" — making them especially difficult to question.
Fake Financial Advisors
Individuals posing as licensed financial advisors or brokers offer investment opportunities in stocks, real estate funds, or commodities with "guaranteed" returns. They may show fake account statements for months before disappearing. Always verify any financial advisor through FINRA BrokerCheck at brokercheck.finra.org before transferring any funds.
Recovery Scams
After being defrauded, victims are often re-targeted by recovery scams — services that claim they can recover lost cryptocurrency for an upfront fee. These are almost always run by the same criminal networks that conducted the original fraud, or by separate operators who purchase victim lists. Recovery scams added $1.4 billion in additional crypto losses in 2025. Legitimate recovery support is available through the FBI and FTC at no cost.
Red Flags — Investment Fraud Warning Signs
- Any "guaranteed" return. No legitimate investment can guarantee profit. Guaranteed returns are the clearest single indicator of investment fraud.
- A romantic or online contact introduces the investment. The pig butchering model always begins with relationship-building before investment. If anyone you've met online suggests an investment platform, treat it as a serious warning sign.
- The platform is not registered with the SEC or CFTC. Before investing anything, verify the platform or broker at FINRA BrokerCheck (brokercheck.finra.org) and the CFTC SmartCheck (smartcheck.gov).
- You can't withdraw your money. There are always fees, taxes, or delays before withdrawal. Legitimate platforms allow withdrawals. If funds can't be withdrawn, they don't exist.
- Pressure to invest quickly. "This opportunity closes tonight." "You'll miss the window." Urgency is a manipulation tactic. Legitimate investments are available tomorrow.
- The investment involves cryptocurrency. Not all crypto investments are scams, but virtually all pig butchering scams use crypto because transactions are fast, cross-border, and nearly impossible to reverse.
- You're discouraged from telling family. "Your family won't understand this." Real investments withstand outside scrutiny. Secrecy is a scam mechanic.
How to Verify Before You Invest
FINRA BrokerCheck: brokercheck.finra.org — verify any financial advisor or broker's licence and disciplinary history
SEC EDGAR: sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar — check if an investment fund is registered
CFTC SmartCheck: smartcheck.gov — verify commodity and crypto trading platforms
FINRA Helpline for Seniors: 844-574-3577 — free call with a specialist to verify any investment
State securities regulator: Your state has a securities division that licenses advisors — find yours at nasaa.org
If You've Already Lost Money
- Stop all payments immediately. No fee, tax, or compliance payment will result in receiving your funds back. These are additional scams layered on top of the original fraud.
- Contact your bank for any bank wire transfers — these may be partially reversible within 24 hours if you act immediately.
- Report to the FBI at IC3.gov — this is the most important step. The FBI's crypto unit uses these reports to build cases and has blockchain tracing capabilities. Some funds have been recovered through international law enforcement operations.
- Report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and your state attorney general.
- Document everything — screenshots of the platform, transaction records, all communications. This is essential for any law enforcement investigation.
- Beware of recovery scams — if anyone contacts you offering to recover your funds for a fee, it is another scam.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Small early withdrawals are a deliberate tactic documented in DOJ prosecution records as standard to pig butchering schemes. The scammer allows one or two withdrawals to build your confidence before encouraging you to deposit significantly more. Once a large deposit is made, the platform becomes inaccessible or withdrawal fees become impossible to pay. The early withdrawal was never your money — it was bait.
Professional-looking websites, customer service lines, and dashboards showing realistic gains are standard components of investment fraud. Scammers operate sophisticated technology specifically designed to appear legitimate. The only verification that matters is whether the platform is registered with the SEC at sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar or the CFTC at smartcheck.gov. No registration means no legitimacy.
Cryptocurrency transactions are largely irreversible, which is why scammers prefer them. However, law enforcement has improved recovery capabilities — the DOJ has executed seizures in multiple crypto fraud cases, and Tether froze $325,000 in the Ohio case documented on this page. Report immediately to IC3.gov. The FBI's Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit specifically handles crypto fraud and speed of reporting matters significantly.
The FBI does proactively contact victims through Operation Level Up. Verify the email comes from an @fbi.gov address. Then call your local FBI field office using a number found at fbi.gov — not any number in the email — to verify. Scammers have specifically impersonated Operation Level Up agents, so this verification step is essential before responding to any contact claiming to be from the FBI.
The most common first contacts are a text appearing to be sent to the wrong number, a connection request on LinkedIn or Facebook, a message from an attractive profile on a dating app, or a comment exchange in a social media group. The opening contact is always low-pressure and friendly — investment is never mentioned for weeks or months. The Ohio case documented on this page began with a single wrong-number text.
Stop all payments immediately — no fee, tax, or compliance payment will result in receiving your funds back. Report to the FBI at IC3.gov and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Contact your bank for any wire transfers made in the last 24–72 hours — these may be partially reversible. Consult an attorney before paying any "recovery service" — these are frequently secondary scams targeting people who have already lost money.
Real Cases — What Actually Happened
Case 1 — Ohio, August 2025
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio · August 27, 2025 · DOJ Press Release · Civil forfeiture complaint — allegations not yet adjudicated
A man in Trumbull County, Ohio received a text appearing to be sent to the wrong number. The sender — using the username "Shaw Goddess" on Telegram — struck up a friendly conversation, built rapport over weeks, then introduced a cryptocurrency platform they controlled. The victim's sister joined after watching his apparent success. Together they transferred more than $1 million of their savings. When they attempted to withdraw, they encountered escalating "tax" and "compliance" fees that never resulted in access to their money. Tether froze approximately $325,000 at law enforcement's request — one of the rare instances of partial recovery.
Case 2 — Cambodia operation, February 2026
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs · February 9, 2026 · DOJ Press Release · Sentencing — established fact
Daren Li coordinated a network from scam centers in Cambodia that laundered over $73 million from U.S. victims. Co-conspirators built romantic or professional relationships via social media, dating apps, and phone before introducing spoofed investment platforms. Li pleaded guilty in November 2024 and was sentenced to 20 years — the statutory maximum — in February 2026. He cut off his ankle monitor and fled before sentencing.
Investment & Crypto Fraud — 2025 Data
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total crypto fraud losses (all ages) | $9.3 billion | FBI IC3 2025 (cited by DOJ) |
| Losses reported by adults 60+ | $4.43 billion | FBI IC3 2025 |
| Average loss per victim (60+) | ~$83,000 | FBI IC3 2025 |
| Year-over-year change | +43% vs 2023 | FBI IC3 2025 |
| Most common contact method | Social media / dating apps / wrong-number text | DOJ Criminal Division 2025 |
| Money typically recovered | Near zero | FTC estimate |
Figures from the FBI IC3 2025 Annual Report and DOJ Criminal Division. Loss figures are self-reported and underestimate actual totals.
Sources Used on This Page
All statistics on this page are drawn from primary government sources. Loss figures represent self-reported amounts and are considered underestimates. This page is reviewed on an ongoing basis as new data becomes available.
Last updated: April 2026