Philadelphia, February 26: With his seductive grin and letters laced with emoticons, the "wine trader" courted a woman online for several months. Next, he went out to con the tech professional in Philadelphia out of $450,000 through a cryptocurrency romance hoax. Shreya Datta, 37, was conned out of her savings and retirement account and left with debt as a result. The scam included digitally modified deepfake videos and a script so intricate that she thought her "brain was hacked."

Known as "pig butchering," the scheme deceives victims into believing they are investing in a cryptocurrency, comparing them to fat pigs fattened up by con artists with pretended love and tenderness before the figurative slaughter. Millions of dollars have been lost in this scam, which is believed to be operated by Southeast Asian criminal syndicates. Victims claim there is little chance of getting their money back. Crypto Phishing Scam: Cryptocurrency Malware ‘Wallet Drainers’ Steals USD 295 Million Cryptocurrency From 324,000 Users in 2023, Says Report.

Datta met "Ancel," a French wine salesman residing in Philadelphia, United States, on the dating app Hinge last January, as many victims have done. The conversation immediately shifted to WhatsApp, during which Datta claimed to have been "charisma bombed". With a dreamy smile, the gym enthusiast removed his Hinge page to offer her "focused attention," which was a welcome change in the short-lived online dating world.

"Ancel" sold her a fantasy in between the mushy banter. "I'm retiring early, I'm well off, What's your plan?" was the fantasy. He sent her a link to download a cryptocurrency trading programme, which had two-factor authentication to give the impression that it was real. He also emailed her images with annotations that AFP was able to view, which he said were profitable deals. Datta used the US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to convert part of her funds into bitcoin. The phoney software originally let her take out her initial profits, which gave her greater confidence to make more investments. New AI Voice Scam: US Hit by Artificial Intelligence Voice-Cloning Scams, Here's How to Protect Against Latest Modus Operandi of Cybercriminals.

Sighs of relief were raised when Datta attempted to withdraw her almost $450,000 investment in March and the programme wanted a personal "tax." On paper, her investment had more than quadrupled. She went to her brother in London, who discovered that the photos "Ancel" had sent her were of a German fitness influencer after doing a reverse image search on them. "When I realized it was all a scam and all the money was gone, I had proper PTSD symptoms -- I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't function. It was very traumatizing", Datta told AFP.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 26, 2024 04:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).