Myanmar-based romance scam operation pulls in $100 million in less than two years

A pig-butchering operation in Myanmar has scammed victims of more than $100 million in Tether in less than two years, according to a report from Chainalysis and the anti-human trafficking organization International Justice Mission.

Many of the workers for the romance scam group are themselves victims of human trafficking. The operation is based in a "compound" near Myanmar's border with Thailand, and researchers estimate that thousands of trafficked workers operate the scam from the "self-contained city".

The scam may put more pressure on Tether, whose role in human trafficking and high-volume romance scam operations has been scrutinized more heavily in recent months and years. Tether has frozen some assets belonging to romance scammers in the past, but remains the token of choice for many of these groups.

DOJ cracks down on $225 million crypto romance scam

At least according to the rather shady Tether stablecoin provider, the U.S. Department of Justice has been working on an investigation into a massive "pig butchering" romance scam and human trafficking operation based out of Southeast Asia.

According to Tether, they "voluntarily fr[oze] approximately 225 million in USDT tokens" in connection to the investigation.

Some romance scammers hoping to lure victims into sending them cryptocurrencies are themselves victims of human trafficking operations, where they are held victim and forced to send such messages.

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