<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/29/everything-is-fake-how-global-gangs-are-using-uk-shell-companies-in-multi-million-pound-crypto-scams>
"A woman meets a man online. They flirt. Then, after a few weeks, they begin
imagining a future together. Fast forward a few months and one of them has had
their heart broken and been defrauded of their life savings.
It sounds like a classic romance scam, but it isn’t. This is “pig butchering”:
a brutal, elaborate and rapidly expanding form of organised crime, often
involving criminal syndicates, modern-day slaves and victims around the world.
Since it came to prominence in 2021, the fraud – which involves scammers
grooming their victims before stealing huge sums in cryptocurrency – has led to
losses of hundreds of millions of pounds and prompted warnings from Interpol
and the FBI.
Last month, an inquest heard that one UK victim, a former police officer and
father from Wiltshire, took his own life after losing about £100,000 – his
entire pension lump sum – in a scam bearing the hallmarks of pig butchering.
Now, an investigation by the
Observer and the Bureau of Investigative
Journalism has found that global organised crime gangs are using the UK as a
virtual base for their operations – systematically exploiting lax company
registration laws to carry out fraud on an industrial scale.
Analysis has identified 168 UK companies accused of running fraudulent
cryptocurrency or foreign exchange trading schemes, with around half of these
likely to be linked to pig-butchering scams.
Registered to addresses including an empty shop in Croydon, a flat above a
Chinese takeaway in Somerset, and a council flat in an east London tower block,
dozens of the firms share an address, an office or are linked through domain
registrations, indicating they may be connected. The vast majority of company
directors are resident in China.
The companies do not appear to have genuine ties to the addresses where they
claim to be based, and details about the real owners are scant. The fact the
properties have been linked to frauds is often known to the UK authorities.
Yet despite extensive evidence of fraudulent activity, and concerns about the
potential for earnings to be laundered via the UK, little has been done to
tackle the scam companies – or to prevent new ones from opening."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
