Washington, D.C. —  The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Office of Customer Outreach and Education (OCEO) today announced two partnerships to give customers targeted information about cryptocurrency relationship investment scams. Partnerships with multiple organizations are a cornerstone of OCEO’s outreach efforts to expand its audience to include those people who trust the partner organizations and could benefit from OCEO anti-fraud information.

“Partnering with federal and state regulators as well as consumer protection groups and other organizations helps spread the CFTC’s customer education message and hopefully reaches people before they can get scammed,” said Office of Customer Education and Outreach Director Melanie Devoe. “These partnerships focus on a relationship confidence fraud the perpetrators commonly refer to as ‘pig butchering,’ that is estimated to cost Americans billions each year.”

OCEO is partnering with the American Bankers Association Foundation along with other federal agencies and a private regulator to distribute an infographic to help consumers recognize and avoid so-called “pig butchering” fraud. The one-page infographic illustrates the scam’s phases—from how victims are targeted and groomed to how the scam ends — and provides warning signs and steps to take if a person has been victimized. View the infographic.

OCEO is also partnering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the North American Securities Administrators Association to develop and distribute an investor alert that gives customers a clear picture of how “pig butchering” scammers work their way into the minds and wallets of everyday, knowledgeable people. It targets individuals who think they would never fall for this type of scam by giving them an introspective on how these fraudsters have perfected their criminal craft to entice even the savviest investors. One way all investors can protect themselves is to stop the scam before it starts by not responding to unexpected or unsolicited text messages from unknown senders. Report them using the phone’s “report junk” option or by forwarding unwanted texts to 7726 (SPAM). View the alert.

Additional Infographic Partners:

Federal Bureau of Investigations
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
U.S. Secret Service
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

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If you or someone you know is a victim of a cryptocurrency investment fraud, report it to www.IC3.gov. In your complaint, please include as much information as possible in your report, including names of investment platforms, cryptocurrency addresses and transaction hashes, bank account information, and names and contact information of suspected scammers. Maintain copies of all communications with scammers and records of financial transactions.

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About the Office of Customer Education and Outreach (OCEO)

OCEO is dedicated to helping customers protect themselves from fraud or violations of the Commodity Exchange Act through the research and development of effective financial education materials and initiatives. OCEO engages in outreach and education to retail investors. The office also frequently partners with federal and state regulators as well as consumer protection groups. The CFTC’s full repository of customer education materials can be found at cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect.