On June 7, 2024, the District Attorney’s Office for Brooklyn, New York seized 70 domains tied to a pig butchering scam designed to target the Russian diaspora, based on complaints received by their Virtual Currency Unit since October 2023.
- Many of these scams were initiated by Facebook advertisements containing a deepfake of Elon Musk encouraging people to invest and set up accounts on fraudulent platforms.
- The sites originated from the Russian Federation and the scammers themselves spoke in Russian.
- Over 20 residents lost over $1 million combined