On 4 October 2024, the United States’ Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), through its Office of Customer Education and Outreach (OCEO), announced two upcoming events in observance of World Investor Week. These events are scheduled for 8 October 2024 and 9 October 2024 which aim to educate and spread awareness with the public on critical issues related to fraud protection, with a focus on emerging scams involving digital assets like cryptocurrency.
World Investor Week is an international initiative organized by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection. From October 7 to 13, organizations from over 100 jurisdictions will come together to highlight pressing issues in investment, particularly around digital and technological advancements, crypto assets, and sustainable finance.
With the rapid growth of digital and crypto assets, fraudulent schemes have evolved, increasingly targeting unsuspecting individuals. A concerning trend is the rise of relationship investment confidence scams, often called romance investment fraud. These scams involve fraudsters building fake relationships with victims and persuading them to invest in fraudulent crypto schemes, ultimately stealing vast sums of money. Some of these scams have been traced back to organized crime syndicates abroad and have been linked to broader illegal activities such as human trafficking and money laundering.
The first event, titled Romance Investment Fraud: A Global-Scale Crypto Scam, will take place on 8 October 2024, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT. This hybrid event will feature Dr. John Griffin, James A. Elkins Centennial Chair in Finance at the University of Texas, who will present his research, How Do Crypto Flows Finance Slavery? The Economics of Pig Butchering. The term “pig butchering” refers to a scam where victims are “fattened up” with false promises of big investment returns, only to have all their assets stolen. The event will include a panel of federal regulators, discussing the scale of the problem, how to recognize the warning signs of these scams, and how to spread awareness to prevent further victims.
Registration for this event is free and open to the public, with in-person attendance options in Washington, D.C. and Austin, Texas, as well as virtual participation.
On October 9, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. EDT, the US CFTC will co-host a second event, a webinar titled Protect Yourself: NFA and CFTC Resources, alongside the National Futures Association (NFA), the self-regulatory organization for the U.S. derivatives industry. This webinar will educate participants on practical tools and resources available to protect themselves from fraud. Both events are designed to empower the public with information about how to avoid falling prey to fraudsters and how to identify high-risk individuals or schemes in the digital investment landscape.
(Source: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8996-24)
