What to do if You’re a Victim
If you are a victim of pig butchering time is of the essence. Pleaser keep the following three pieces of advice in mind:
Bad actors move money quickly: Your best defense is to act as your own advocate and report your crime's details immediately.
After you report online, do not expect someone to contact you: Every law enforcement agency in the world is overwhelmed with these cases right now.
Don’t be revictimized: It is unlikely your funds will be recovered. People may promise to help you recover your assets. Be wary of spending more money to pursue your lost funds.
Take a breath. You are not alone. You have been the target of highly sophisticated, transnational criminal organizations. These criminals invest millions of dollars in creating multiple fake personas and spinning up fraudulent crypto websites. They invest time to deceive people like you into investing your life savings in “once-in-a-lifetime crypto goldmines” that are entirely fake.
First - collect your evidence. The police and other agencies need details (screenshots of texts/instant messages, emails, everything!) of each time you corresponded and sent money to the criminals. Ensure your records include dates, times, and online addresses if possible - capture the transaction hash (a mix of letters and numbers that identifies your specific individual transaction) and a deposit address (a mix of letters and numbers that shows the address on the blockchain to which you sent the funds). Keep these details handy, as many agencies will request this information.
Next, go to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov and click "file a complaint.” We report to ic3 for two reasons: a) it informs the government how big the problem is so that they can put appropriate resources toward fighting it and b) it records the deposit address to which you sent funds so that they can identify you in the event of a large seizure.
Now - get to your local law enforcement as soon as possible. We know you’re embarrassed, upset, and humiliated—that’s natural. But now is the time to hold your head high and be your best advocate. They may not be familiar with pig butchering. They may tell you that this is a civil case. Encourage them to look at the John Oliver story from February 2024. Ask to speak to a financial crimes detective. Make sure that your local police department understands the crime that is happening in their jurisdiction.
Next, report to the Operation Shamrock Chainabuse.com portal, which will help private industry connect your fraudulent deposit addresses to the public sector in the hopes that your assets can be frozen quickly. Operation Shamrock’s Triage team will evaluate all cases submitted through the portal and determine whether there is an opportunity to recover funds. If so, these trained investigators will immediately get to work to pursue a recovery for you. Additionally, your data will be added to the growing database of social media handles, mobile phone numbers, URLs, and cryptocurrency addresses so that law enforcement can connect more cases.
Give yourself grace. You’re understandably in pain and feel exhausted. Let yourself rest and regroup. When you’re ready, we strongly encourage you and your family members to reach out to any of our trauma-informed victim resource partners.