276 arrested as crypto scams surge in 2026 – Millions lost to ‘pig butchering’

Just four months into the new year, the crypto industry has already been hit by a wave of scams. To counter the rise of illicit actors, the FBI, Dubai Police Department, and China’s Ministry of Public Security collaborated to arrest the offenders. 

According to a press release published on the 29th of April, 276 individuals have already been arrested. Additionally, the three agencies successfully evacuated at least nine cryptocurrency fraud-related scam centers thanks to their “unprecedented cooperation.” 

Commenting on the incident, Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division added, 

“Pig butchering” scams uncovered

The main victims of these scams were residents in America who suffered millions of dollars in losses. Interestingly, three of those 276 wrongdoers were also charged with federal online scams and money trafficking in the Southern District of California.

Additionally, six defendants were charged with running a ‘pig‑butchering’ scheme. By posing as friends or romantic partners, the scammers gradually gained the victims’ trust. Once that trust was established, they persuaded victims to invest in fraudulent schemes and then stole the funds. 

Remarking on the same, Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said, 

It goes without saying that this isn’t the first time the FBI has come up with such plans. Back in 2025, FBI San Diego agents had commenced a Homeland Security Task Force investigation for the same. 

Other similar efforts

In fact, recently in March 2026, authorities from three countries, the U.S. Secret Service, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), and Canadian authorities, launched Operation Atlantic.

Through this joint effort, the three nations targeted ‘approval phishing’ scams. In these schemes, victims were tricked into signing transactions that secretly granted attackers access to their cryptocurrency wallets. 

Furthermore, cryptocurrency fraud was reported as the most common transaction type in fraud, according to a recent FBI IC3 2025 report.  

Together, these highlight two sides of the coin: on one hand, the growing popularity of crypto; on the other, the rising frequency of scams. 

Final Summary

• In this collaborative effort to combat cryptocurrency fraud, the most common scams identified were ‘pig‑butchering’ schemes. 
• The extent of wrongdoing has increased despite numerous attempts and various measures to stop the rise in scams.