The FBI is taking the fight against crypto fraud to its attackers and says it has already saved more than 4,300 victims over $285 million.

The government initiative, dubbed Operation Level Up, is attempting to lessen the estimated $3.9 billion in losses from investment fraud related to cryptocurrency in 2023 alone.

The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, known as IC3, has reported around 3,200 cryptocurrency investment fraud complaints every month. These are known by agencies by the derogatory term "pig butchering," although the FBI labels them confidence-enabled cryptocurrency investment fraud.

James Barnacle, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, said: "It’s a growing problem, and it's a big problem affecting many Americans."

These scammers are typically professionals that know how to gain trust, often offering great returns on investments, before making their moves. Victims have told investigators they lost entire life savings, retirement accounts and even homes.

Many of the victims are between the ages of 30 and 60, are tech savvy, and actively seeking financial investment opportunities. As such, the attackers use social media, professional networking websites, investment groups, dating websites and more to target victims.

One victim that contacted the FBI was about to invest a further $1 million in a scheme, another was going to sell their home to invest $500,000, and another withdrew half a million from his retirement account. They were all saved by the FBI intervention.

Talking about the nature of the attacks, Barnacle said: "Victims are solicited to put money into an investment opportunity. They are shown terrific investment returns. It looks like on paper or an electronic application or a website, that their money is performing and they’re making a lot of money. However, it"s a dummy account and when victims try to withdraw their money, they are denied."

One method of protection is prevention. The FBI offers warnings and education to stop scammers having access to vulnerable people.

This also allows the bureau to gather new leads and criminal information as it works with domestic and international partners to identify, target and disrupt criminal organizations.

One of the stand-out pieces of advice is to never act quickly and instead "Take A Beat" and assess the situation before taking any action.

The bureau urged people who may be the victim of crypto fraud to contact the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.

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