Crypto 'Pig Butchering' Scam Victim Gets $140,000 Back

Alexey Madan never thought the day would come.

This week he received a $140,000 check in the mail from Massachusetts officials. That was the full extent of Madan falling into the get-rich-quick crypto scam.

“How would you feel if all your money was stolen and you never expected to get it back, then you did?” Madan said, 69 years. I am very happy and shocked.”

Among those funds were hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency seized by Massachusetts authorities from a fraudulent operation that targeted Russian-speaking seniors online and in some cases stole their life savings.

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office launched an investigation into the company, known as SpireBit An NPR investigation The story details two victims who were lured into an investment scheme last year, only to find it was a scam after they transferred large sums of money to SpireBit's cryptocurrency wallets.

SpireBit lures victims into its scam using social media ads with promises of lucrative investment returns. SpireBeat took out ads on Facebook and Instagram that falsely portrayed Elon Musk with a Russian voice-over as an endorsement of the company.

But NPR found no sign of an actual investment company: The people listed as company executives turned out to be stock photos and fake LinkedIn profiles. A supposed London address for SpireBit turned out to be a kitchen business. When victims try to withdraw their money, the company sends them fake bank documents. Following NPR's reporting, UK financial regulators Issue a public warning Regarding SpireBit, it classifies it as an operation run by “fraudsters”.

When NPR tried to contact SpireBit for comment last year, it responded via the Telegram messaging app that crypto trading is volatile, and said that “our company's operations are governed by the laws of the country in which the company's headquarters are located.” Now, that account has been deleted.

NPR's investigation drew the attention of Massachusetts authorities, who in December SpireBit sued under its subsidiary entity known as SBT Investments.

Investigators posed as a SpireBit customer and were able to identify crypto wallets used by SpireBit. In A ruling issued in MayState officials have won a court order that freezes the company's assets on trading platform Binance.

While the full extent of SpireBit's operations remains unknown, the company's tactics are part of a growing type of online fraud known as pig butchering. The name comes from the process of gaining someone's trust and befriending them over weeks or months — fattening pigs before slaughter, which in this case means stealing a lot of money.

According to the FBI, crypto scammers Stole over $5.6 billion Last year from Americans Online.

According to a May court order, Massachusetts investigators were able to seize a total of $269,000 from SpireBit's crypto wallet, with most of it being distributed among four victims in the state.

Another SpireBit victim profiled by NPR, 75-year-old Naum Lantsman of Los Angeles lost his life savings of $340,000 that he earned as a small business owner over decades. Her family reported the theft to the California Attorney General's office, but a formal investigation has not been launched.

Officials from the Massachusetts and California attorney general's offices did not return interview requests.