Pig Butchering: Inside the Billion-Dollar Scam Factories

“Imagine a campus with 35 buildings, but they are all for the purpose of scamming. It was a walled in, locked down facility where hundreds, thousands of people were in the business of scamming people all over the world.”Pig Butchering scams have become some of the most lucrative online frauds around. These are highly organized, emotionally manipulative schemes where victims are tricked into handing over life savings, often after forming fake romantic relationships with their scammers. Since 2020, more than 75 billion dollars could have been stolen from victims worldwide.On this week’s episode we hear from someone on the frontline investigating and shutting down these pig butchering scams. She’s seen the inside of scam factories to show us exactly how they carry out their lucrative crimes. Our guest, Erin West spent 26 years as a Deputy District Attorney and carried investigations into cryptocurrency-enabled crimes, SIM-swapping, and digital financial fraud. Now, as the President of the anti-fraud initiative Operation Shamrock, Erin is on a mission to unite the global community—law enforcement, crypto platforms, NGOs—to expose, disrupt, and shut down these fraud networks for good. Sumsub's website: sumsub.com  Sumsub’s What The Fraud Summit: https://sumsub.com/wtf-summit/ Sumsub's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/sumsub Sumsub's Facebook: facebook.com/sumsub Sumsub's Instagram: facebook.com/sumsubcom Sumsub's YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@sumsubcom  Thomas Taraniuk on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tomtaraniuk  Erin West on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinnordbywest Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Join Thomas Taraniuk in hosting leading minds from the world of AI, fintech, crypto, iGaming, and more. This podcast dives deep into the most pressing issues surrounding digital fraud in business. Each episode dissects key fraud-related issues that companies—both big and small—face today. From deepfakes and identity theft to money mules and forced verification, What The Fraud? is where digital fraudsters meet their match.This is THE podcast for comprehensive, actionable, and up-to-date information on fraud. Listen in to reveal what you can do to protect yourself and your business.Don't want to miss an episode? Follow the show now.CREDITSFrom Sumsub and ListenPresented by Thomas Taraniuk, SumsubProduced by Aidan Judd, ListenExecutive Producer - Kellie Redmond, ListenExecutive Producer - Mila Varavina, Sumsub Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.