An investigation has revealed the startling extent of organised crime gangs using UK shell companies for massive cryptocurrency scams known as "pig butchering". Losses of hundreds of millions of pounds have left victims across the world heartbroken and bankrupt.

Victims fall prey to the typical romance scam story, where a hopeful individual is groomed online before being defrauded of all their savings. Since its emergence in 2021, Interpol and the FBI have issued warnings against pig butchering schemes, with the inquest of one UK victim - a former police officer from Wiltshire - hearing of PS100,000