Social Engineering & Pig Butchering

Convinced to send cryptocurrency by someone you met online?

We follow the transactions you made, document the scammer’s collection wallets, and provide an objective evidence report.

Situation: “Someone I met online convinced me to transfer cryptocurrency”
Recognizing The Pattern

What happened in this scam?

Romance and relationship scams (often called "pig butchering" or sha zhu pan) involve scammers building personal trust over weeks or months on dating apps, social media, or messaging channels. Eventually, they introduce a "special investment opportunity", a deceptive liquidity pool, or a crypto trading portal.

Common Red Flags & Tactics Experienced By Victims
1The contact refused to meet in person or conduct verifiable live video calls
2The relationship quickly turned to financial topics, cryptocurrency investments, or "exclusive liquidity nodes"
3You were instructed to purchase crypto on a legitimate exchange (like Coinbase or Kraken) and transfer it to an external portal
4The platform initially allowed small mock withdrawals to create false confidence before locking larger deposits
Individual reviewing frozen account withdrawal alerts on a deceptive trading platform
Real-World Situation

When withdrawals are blocked and demands for fees begin.

Victims typically realise something is wrong when a platform demands unexpected “tax clearance fees” or “liquidity verification” before allowing withdrawals. While the dashboard numbers are simulated, where your actual cryptocurrency moved is permanently recorded on the blockchain.

Forensic Methodology

How Fundoraid investigates romance scams

We do not rely on guesses or assumptions. We reconstruct the movement of funds directly from the public blockchain ledger.

1

We aggregate every single transaction made over the course of the relationship into a single verified ledger.

2

We trace the path across multiple blockchain networks to determine the scam syndicate’s collection addresses.

3

We connect the destination addresses with known threat actor clusters and exchange infrastructure.

4

We deliver a plain-language summary that documents the financial deception without technical confusion.

On-Chain Footprint We Follow
Tether (USDT) on Tron and Ethereum, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cross-chain transfers
Scammer syndicate collection pools and intermediary transit wallets
Cash-out points at centralized cryptocurrency exchanges
Case Evidence

Real anonymised case example

Past case results do not guarantee identical outcomes, but demonstrate our forensic evidence process.

Case Review

Dating App Liquidity Pool Scheme

Funds Involved: $84,000 USDC
The Incident:

A victim was contacted on a professional networking app by an individual who claimed to be an experienced commodities trader. Over three months, the contact convinced the victim to connect their Web3 wallet to a fake decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity mining pool.

What Fundoraid Discovered:

Fundoraid identified that the smart contract had granted unlimited spend approval to the scammer. We mapped the transfer of 84,000 USDC through two decentralized swap routers and traced the final funds to a verified deposit address at a major overseas exchange.

The Outcome & Next Steps:

The victim submitted our comprehensive report directly to the FBI IC3 and local law enforcement, who issued a formal evidence preservation request to the exchange.

FAQ

Questions about romance scams

Clear, transparent answers without false promises.

Yes. All reviews and reports are conducted under strict non-disclosure obligations. We treat your personal circumstances with complete confidentiality, professionalism, and care.
Confidential Case Intake

Lost money to romance scams?

Share your transaction hashes or wallet address. We will trace where the cryptocurrency went, pinpoint recipient exchange accounts, and initiate recovery action.

Handled under strict confidentiality