Friday , May 9 2025

Unmasking Million-Dollar Crypto romance scam by Sophos

Cybersecurity firm Sophos has uncovered a pig-butchering ring that managed to steal over $1 million from its victims in just three months.

Translated from Chinese as “shā zhū pán,” this intriguing term describes a captivating blend of romance and fraud, skillfully coaxing victims into investing in deceptive cryptocurrency ventures.

Qilin Ransomware topped April 2025 with 45+ data leak disclosures

The cyber threat landscape is rapidly changing, with a notable increase in ransomware activity in April 2025, driven by the...
Read More
Qilin Ransomware topped April 2025 with 45+ data leak disclosures

SonicWall Patches 3 Flaws in SMA 100 Devices

SonicWall has released patches for three security flaws in SMA 100 Secure Mobile Access appliances that could allow remote code...
Read More
SonicWall Patches 3 Flaws in SMA 100 Devices

Top Ransomware Actively Attacking Financial Sector: 406 Incidents Disclosed

From April 2024 to April 2025, Flashpoint analysts noted that the financial sector was a major target for threat actors,...
Read More
Top Ransomware Actively Attacking Financial Sector: 406 Incidents Disclosed

Critical (CVSS 10) Flaw in Cisco IOS XE WLCs Allows RRA

Cisco has issued a security advisory for a critical vulnerability in its IOS XE Software for Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs)....
Read More
Critical (CVSS 10) Flaw in Cisco IOS XE WLCs Allows RRA

CVE-2025-29824
Play Ransomware Exploited Windows CVE-2025-29824 as Zero-Day

Attackers linked to the Play ransomware operation deployed a zero-day privilege escalation exploit during an attempted attack against an organization...
Read More
CVE-2025-29824  Play Ransomware Exploited Windows CVE-2025-29824 as Zero-Day

Hacker exploited Samsung MagicINFO 9 Server RCE flaw

Hackers are exploiting an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in the Samsung MagicINFO 9 Server to take control of devices...
Read More
Hacker exploited Samsung MagicINFO 9 Server RCE flaw

CISA adds Langflow flaw to its KEV catalog

CISA added the Langflow vulnerability, CVE-2025-3248 (CVSS score 9.8), to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Langflow is a popular tool...
Read More
CISA adds Langflow flaw to its KEV catalog

Google Fixes Android Flaw (CVE-2025-27363) Exploited by Attackers

Google has released its monthly Android security updates, addressing 46 vulnerabilities, including one that has been actively exploited. CVE-2025-27363 (CVSS...
Read More
Google Fixes Android Flaw (CVE-2025-27363) Exploited by Attackers

UAP hosted “UAP Cyber Siege 2025”, A national level cybersecurity competition

The Cyber Security Club, representing the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Asia Pacific (UAP), has...
Read More
UAP hosted “UAP Cyber Siege 2025”, A national level cybersecurity competition

xAI Dev Leaks API Key for Private SpaceX, Tesla & Tweeter

A major security issue happened at Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, when a developer accidentally posted a private API key...
Read More
xAI Dev Leaks API Key for Private SpaceX, Tesla & Tweeter

An investigation was launched by Sophos following a courageous step from one of the victims, known as “Frank,” who chose to remain anonymous to safeguard his identity.

Frank claimed that he had suffered a significant financial loss of $22,000 earlier this year. He tragically fell victim to a deceitful individual who identified themselves as a German woman named “Vivian” on the dating application MeetMe.

Sophos’ researchers found 14 domains related to a scam operation. They also discovered many similar fraudulent websites. These websites were used by a group of pig butchers to make over $1 million in three months.

For weeks, Frank and Vivian, who was actually a scammer working for the ring, had frequent communication on MeetMe. Vivian, who claimed to be a US resident, persistently blended her romantic commitments with relentless efforts to persuade Frank into investing in cryptocurrency.

From May 31st to June 5th, Frank diligently deposited funds into his Trust Wallet account. Despite being a legitimate service, the pig butchers managed to deplete the funds in just three days. According to Sophos, these scams thrive due to the unregulated environment of decentralized finance (DeFi) cryptocurrency trading applications.

Sophos says that these applications establish “liquidity pools” consisting of different cryptocurrencies, which users can utilize to execute trades between different cryptocurrencies. By participating in the pool, you are entitled to a percentage of the fees generated from each trade, which offers a truly enticing return on your investment.

However, the true test lies at the moment when the investor finalizes an online smart contract – typically granting pool operators authorization to access wallets for trade facilitation purposes.

While it’s great to have a pool that operates legitimately, unfortunately, this one did not.

Sophos stated that pig butchers are using fake pools more and more to steal funds from their targets, employing a similar modus operandi. However, unlike legitimate pools, these scammers eventually deceive others and selfishly drain the entire liquidity pool.

 

Check Also

Data Center

Amazon Follows Microsoft’s Lead, Halts Some Data Center Deals

Amazon has paused some data center lease negotiations for its cloud division, particularly in international …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *