Romance Scams Peak Ahead of Valentine’s Day: Prosecutors Warn of $53 Billion Crypto Pig Butchering Epidemic
U.S. prosecutors issued an urgent warning on February 12, 2026, alerting the public that Valentine’s Day marks peak season for crypto romance scams—particularly “pig butchering” schemes that fuse emotional grooming with fake investment platforms.
Victims lose an average of $850,000, with total crypto scam losses exceeding $53 billion since 2023, according to TRM Labs. Blockchain forensics firms are now deploying behavioral detection tools to flag suspect wallets, while state lawmakers propose ATM transfer caps. But for thousands of victims like Anola Johnson, the money is already gone—and the trauma remains.
‘Brain Jacking’ on Valentine’s Week: Why Scammers Love February 14
February 13, 2026, is the day before Valentine’s Day. Dating apps are running peak traffic. Loneliness is a commodity. And for the sprawling criminal networks operating scam compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia, it is also harvest season.
On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio issued a public alert. The message was blunt: romance scams tied to cryptocurrency fraud surge during Valentine’s week, and the schemes are no longer crude email pleas from fake princes. They are sophisticated, months-long psychological operations that blend fake identities, fake trading platforms, and very real financial devastation .
The FBI’s Boston office reported that in 2025 alone, more than 700 people across Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island lost roughly $20 million to romance scams. One Derry, New Hampshire, man sent $1.5 million to a bogus crypto website after a woman he never met spent months cultivating his trust online .
“Fraudsters are lurking online claiming to be looking for love when they’re really just looking to loot your bank account,” said Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division .
What Is Pig Butchering? The Anatomy of a $53 Billion Scam
The term “pig butchering” (sha zhu pan in Mandarin) is deliberately dehumanizing. The scammer “fattens” the victim with affection, trust, and small financial wins before slaughtering their savings. It is not a crime of opportunity; it is industrialized fraud.
According to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, crypto scams have sent at least $53 billion to fraud-related addresses since 2023—a figure that continues to climb as attribution improves. Pig butchering accounts for a significant share of that total, with victims often losing their entire retirement portfolios, home equity, and borrowed funds .
The operational model is now standardized. Scammers initiate contact through dating apps, social media, or “wrong number” text messages. They cultivate intimacy over weeks or months, often using AI-generated photos and deepfake voice calls to bypass video verification. Once trust is established, the conversation shifts to WhatsApp or Telegram—encrypted platforms beyond the reach of dating app moderators.
Then comes the investment pitch. The scammer claims to be earning life-changing returns through crypto arbitrage, mining pools, or proprietary trading bots. They offer to “teach” the victim. A fake platform is introduced, complete with professional branding, live price charts, and customer support agents who are actually co-conspirators in the same compound.
The victim makes a small deposit. The platform shows a profit. The scammer urges withdrawal—and the victim receives their first payout. It is real money, sent from the scammer’s own wallet to cement credibility.
Then the slaughter begins.
Key Numbers That Define the Epidemic
- Total crypto sent to scam addresses since 2023: $53 billion (TRM Labs)
- Estimated annual U.S. losses to pig butchering: $10 billion (CFTC)
- Average victim loss (Utah case, 2026): $850,000
- DOJ seizure, April 2025: $8.2 million in USDT traced to romance baiting
- AI scam tool usage increase, 2025: 500% (TRM Labs)
The Victim’s Lens: Anola Johnson’s $850,000 Lesson
Anola Johnson, a 69-year-old widow from Centerville, Utah, did not believe she was the kind of person who falls for scams. She had worked her entire life, saved diligently, and understood risk.
Then a man named Pedro found her on LinkedIn.
“It’s hard to explain to somebody who hasn’t been through it, but what I call it is brain jacking,” Johnson told KSL in February 2026. “It just floods you with feel-good feelings, and you don’t want it to stop because they’re paying attention to you, and hey, nobody’s paid attention to me in 20 years” .
Over nine months, Johnson drained her personal savings, maxed her credit cards, and refinanced her mortgage. She sent cash through cryptocurrency ATMs at gas stations near her home, converting dollars into Bitcoin and sending it to addresses Pedro provided. He claimed they were building a joint trading account.
By the time she realized the truth, she had lost $850,000.
“There’s no cavalry coming to save me,” she said. “Unless I win the lottery, I’m probably going to live the rest of my life in poverty” .
Johnson is now lobbying Utah lawmakers to pass legislation capping daily crypto ATM transfers and imposing cooling-off periods. Two bills—HB72 and SB173—are under consideration, though neither has advanced to committee. AARP Utah is pushing for lower limits, arguing that $5,000 daily caps are still dangerously high for elderly victims .
The 14 Scam Typologies: How Crypto Fraudsters Operate
Pig butchering is the most emotionally destructive crypto scam, but it is far from the only one. TRM Labs categorizes at least 14 distinct scam typologies, many of which share on-chain infrastructure, laundering methods, and perpetrator networks.
1. Romance Scams
Emotional grooming followed by urgent financial requests. Victims send crypto directly to scammers under false pretenses—medical emergencies, travel crises, legal fees.
2. Pig Butchering Scams
A romance scam variant that adds a fake investment platform. Victims are walked through deposit procedures, shown fabricated returns, and encouraged to recruit friends.
3. Fake Investment Platforms
Standalone websites and apps that mimic legitimate trading platforms. Often promoted via social media ads or impersonated celebrity endorsements.
4. Rug Pulls and Exit Scams
Developers launch DeFi tokens, attract liquidity, then drain pools and disappear. Often enabled by anonymous teams and unaudited code.
5. Ponzi and Pyramid Schemes
Returns paid from new deposits. High referral incentives and recruitment quotas. Collapse when inflows slow.
6. Advance Fee Scams
Victims pay upfront fees to unlock larger payouts (inheritance, lottery, grants). Fees accumulate; payout never arrives.
7. Pump-and-Dump Schemes
Coordinated buying of low-liquidity tokens, fueled by hype and false promises. Insiders sell at peak; retail holders absorb losses.
8. Phishing Scams
Fake login portals, airdrop traps, and QR code attacks that harvest private keys or drain wallet approvals.
9. Drainware
Malicious smart contracts that request token approvals, then siphon victims’ balances. Often disguised as NFT mints or token claims.
10. Mining Scams
Cloud mining contracts with no backend infrastructure. Dashboards show accumulating yields; withdrawals are blocked.
11. Tech and IT Support Scams
Scammers impersonate exchange support or antivirus providers, gain remote desktop access, and empty wallets.
12. Impersonation Scams
Fake celebrity giveaways, deepfake CEO messages, or “friend in distress” pleas. Urgency prevents verification.
13. Extortion and Sextortion
Emails claiming to have compromised webcams or browsing history. Victims are threatened with exposure unless Bitcoin is sent.
14. Money Mule Scams
Victims are recruited as “payment processors” or “liquidity providers.” They receive stolen crypto into personal wallets and forward it—often unknowingly laundering funds for organized crime.
The Blockchain Forensics Counteroffensive
If the scams are industrialized, so is the response. Blockchain forensics firms—including TRM Labs and Elliptic—have developed behavioral detection tools that analyze on-chain patterns to flag suspect wallets before victims send money .
Elliptic’s methodology focuses on transaction timing and baiting behavior. In a typical pig butchering case, the scammer returns a small “profit” (often 4–5%) within days of the victim’s first deposit. This baiting transaction is a behavioral signature. Coupled with the fact that a single scam wallet often interacts with dozens of victims simultaneously, machine learning models can now flag these addresses with high confidence .
Once flagged, the intelligence is shared with exchanges, wallet providers, and law enforcement. In some cases, stablecoin issuers like Tether can freeze assets before they are off-ramped. In April 2025, the DOJ seized $8.2 million in USDT traced to romance baiting scams—funds frozen by Tether, reissued to law enforcement, and ultimately forfeited .
“The FBI used blockchain intelligence to trace the flow of funds across multiple platforms and networks—from centralized exchanges, to Ethereum and TRON, through DeFi protocols, and into final storage wallets,” TRM Labs noted .
The Compounds: Where the Scams Are Born
Pig butchering is not the work of lone actors. It is an industry, concentrated in fortified compounds along the Myanmar-Thailand border and in coastal Cambodia.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has documented forced labor camps where trafficking victims are held behind razor wire and forced to operate dating app profiles 16 hours a day. Those who refuse are beaten, tortured, or sold to other compounds .
In May 2025, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the Karen National Army and its leader, Saw Chit Thu, for facilitating cyber scams and human trafficking in the Myawaddy region. Days later, FinCEN proposed designating Huione Group, a Cambodian conglomerate, as a primary money laundering concern—effectively cutting it off from the U.S. financial system .
Yet the compounds persist. TRM Labs reported in February 2026 that Xinbi, a crypto guarantee service operating in the region, processed $17.9 billion in on-chain volume even after its Telegram channel was banned . The money continues to flow.
Red Flags: How to Spot a Pig Butchering Scam Before It’s Too Late
Federal prosecutors and blockchain investigators agree that the most effective defense is early recognition. Common red flags include:
Unsolicited Contact
Wrong-number texts, random LinkedIn messages, or sudden DMs from attractive strangers.
Immediate Off-Platform Migration
Requests to move conversations to WhatsApp, Telegram, or Signal within hours.
Refusal to Video Call
Excuses involving military deployment, oil rig work, or broken cameras.
Early Declarations of Love
“Soulmate” language within days or weeks, often accompanied by future planning.
The Investment Mention
Casual references to “my mentor,” “crypto trading,” or “passive income streams.”
Fake Platforms
Websites with slightly misspelled URLs, low-quality design, or no verifiable registration.
Baiting Profits
Small withdrawals that arrive successfully—designed to encourage larger deposits.
Withdrawal Obstacles
When large withdrawals are attempted: taxes, fees, compliance checks, or “system upgrades.”
What to Do If You’ve Been Targeted
If you suspect you are communicating with a pig butchering scammer:
- Cease all communication immediately.
- Do not send additional funds, regardless of pressure.
- Document wallet addresses, transaction hashes, and screenshots.
- Report the incident at Chainabuse.com, which feeds intelligence to investigators.
- File a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
- If you have approved malicious smart contracts, revoke permissions at Revoke.cash.
- Move remaining assets to a new wallet with a fresh seed phrase.
Four Structural Reforms That Could Curb the Epidemic
Cryptocurrency ATM Caps. Utah’s proposed $1,000–$5,000 daily limits represent a state-level attempt to disrupt the scam economics. Critics argue caps are paternalistic; victims say they would have saved their life savings.
Mandatory Fraud Warnings. Both Utah bills require ATM operators to display clear warnings about romance scams and irreversible transactions. Such disclosures are already common in the UK and Australia.
Exchange-Level Behavioral Screening. Leading VASPs now screen withdrawal addresses against behavioral risk models. If a wallet exhibits pig butchering patterns, the user receives a warning or the transaction is blocked.
International Asset Recovery Agreements. Stolen crypto often moves through Southeast Asian OTC desks with weak KYC. Formal information-sharing treaties could accelerate freezing and forfeiture.
The Scam Economy Will Adapt. So Must Defense.
TRM Labs reported that AI-driven scam tool usage increased 500% in 2025. Deepfake video calls are no longer theoretical. Language models generate convincing rapport with near-native fluency in dozens of languages. The cost of launching a fake investment platform has fallen to nearly zero .
Yet the vulnerabilities being exploited are not technical. They are human. Loneliness, trust, and the universal desire for connection—these are not bugs in the system. They are the system.
Anola Johnson testified before Utah lawmakers with a simple plea: “I know that I will be victim shamed, and that’s OK. I’m ready for that. But if I had been one of Bernie Madoff’s victims, would you still call me stupid? You’d call me a victim of financial crime. So why don’t I get the same opportunity for some slack?” .
The blockchain does not lie. It records every transaction, every baiting payment, every stolen retirement. What it cannot record is the nine months of messages, the promises of a shared future, the careful architecture of betrayal.
That is the part victims carry alone. And that is the part no tracing tool can recover.