Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has revealed that a single company in Myanmar allegedly defrauded victims of over $100 million in two years.
The culprits reportedly used Tether’s stablecoin USDT to facilitate “pig butchering” scams, according to an investigation with the anti-trafficking group International Justice Mission.
Chainalysis traced payments in Tether to a union called KK Park in eastern Myanmar from the families who coerced the funds into paying ransoms to secure the release of trafficked laborers.
Pig butchering scams butter up victims with romance before pressuring them to make crypto transfers. The scammers leveraged Tether’s dollar peg and low fees on Tron’s blockchain to extract funds globally.
The company pledged to work with law enforcement and block wallets linked to illegal activity. However, critics argue more stringent compliance is needed to curb crypto’s appeal to criminals.
While the Myanmar scheme exploited crypto payments, blockchain analytics enabled the identification of the geographic source and mapping of financial flows.
The revelation illustrates the transparency of blockchain transactions, allowing monitoring by crime fighters. But it also shows that more work is needed to prevent exploitation.
Also Read: Crypto Scams Swipe $43.6M in Gaming World in 2022: Report
