How Criminals Target Users via Love Scams and How to Stop The Pig Butchering Epidemic with Erin West episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 23, 2026 · 42 MIN

How Criminals Target Users via Love Scams and How to Stop The Pig Butchering Epidemic with Erin West

from The Future of Money

With Erin West, former prosecutor (26+ years) and founder of Operation Shamrock, one of the leading global initiatives fighting pig butchering scams and the organized crime networks behind them. Pig butchering is no longer a niche fraud story. We are living in a scam-demic. These scams are industrial-scale operations run out of compounds across Southeast Asia, and they are targeting everyday people — not just crypto natives. Doctors. Students. Professionals. Families. People are losing everything… and often being pushed into debt. In this episode, we discuss: - What pig butchering scams really are - Why they are so effective psychologically - How organized crime is using crypto as the main payment rail - The role of exchanges, stablecoins, and compliance gaps - Why crypto ATMs are "theft machines" - How AI and deepfakes are making scams harder to detect - The disturbing link between scams and human trafficking - Why shame prevents victims from reporting - What to do immediately if you suspect you are being scammed This is one of the most important conversations happening in crypto today. Powered by ACX Compliance - the world's largest crypto compliance specialised managed services provider. The full interview is also available on my YouTube channel: YouTube: https://bit.ly/4kRnPIu  

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Feb 23, 2026

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How Criminals Target Users via Love Scams and How to Stop The Pig Butchering Epidemic with Erin West

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