Pig butchering scams prime 2024 crypto fraud with $3.6 billion in losses

Pig butchering scams led to $3.6 billion in crypto losses in 2024, rising as probably the most important fraud scheme of the 12 months, in line with a report by web3 safety agency Cyvers.

The long-term fraud methodology, the place victims are groomed over time to make substantial investments, outpaced different types of crypto scams in 2024. The report highlighted that $3.6 billion in stolen funds have been traced to the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain alone.

Pig butchering on the rise

Cyvers tracked over 150,000 addresses and 800,000 transactions linked to pig butchering scams, illustrating the size of the issue. The report follows an FBI announcement that estimated $3.96 billion in losses from pig butchering schemes in 2023.

The report additionally emphasised scammers’ evolving sophistication, noting that many victims have been lured via relationship apps and social media platforms. Scammers created faux profiles, constructed belief over weeks or months, and satisfied victims to put money into fraudulent crypto platforms that appeared authentic.

In response to the rise in pig butchering scams, Cyvers advisable elevated person training, enhanced pockets safety measures, and stricter rules for crypto platforms. The agency additionally highlighted the significance of real-time monitoring and superior risk detection techniques to mitigate potential losses.

Cyber threats and recoveries

Cyber threats elevated by 40% in 2024, leading to $2.3 billion in losses throughout 165 incidents. Regardless of the surge, total losses remained 37% decrease than in 2022.

Ethereum was the first goal for scammers, with entry management breaches driving $1.9 billion in losses throughout 67 incidents. Sensible contract exploits accounted for $456.8 million, whereas a single tackle poisoning incident resulted in $68.7 million in stolen funds.

Efforts to fight fraud recovered $1.3 billion this 12 months, because of on-chain investigators corresponding to ZachXBT and bug bounty packages.

The 12 months’s first quarter noticed the best variety of incidents, with 53 instances recorded. Nonetheless, the biggest monetary losses occurred within the third quarter, totaling $760 million.

Vital incidents included a $305 million breach of DMM Change attributable to a compromised non-public key, a $235 million hack focusing on WazirX via a multi-signature pockets vulnerability, and $52 million in losses suffered by BingX after scorching pockets exploits.

The Cyvers report indicated that entry management incidents comprised 81% of the full losses regardless of making up solely 41.6% of all reported instances.