69-year-old man defrauded $164,000 via pig-butchering scam on Facebook

Summary

The Iowa Attorney General’s office warned about a rise in "pig-butchering" scams in Des Moines, Iowa. These scams involve con artists building trust with victims over time, often through social media, before asking for money via cryptocurrency. A 69-year-old man from southeast Iowa was scammed out of $164,000 after being befriended by a scammer posing as a young woman named "Delia" from Illinois. The scammer convinced him to invest in a fake company using Bitcoin, using fake investment statements to encourage larger payments. The victim borrowed against his Harley Davidson motorcycle titles to fund the scam. The Iowa Attorney General’s office urged people to be cautious of online strangers and avoid sending money through cryptocurrency.