The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) cautioned that criminals are employing couriers to physically collect funds from victims involved in cryptocurrency investment frauds, commonly referred to as pig butchering or romance baiting.
These schemes typically start with perpetrators contacting targets through social media, dating platforms, and messaging applications, establishing trust, and subsequently enticing victims into fake investment opportunities. Rather than investing the money, the fraudsters steal it by transferring funds into accounts they control.
The alert came via a public service announcement released on Monday, where the law enforcement body stated that scammers are steering victims toward in-person cash handovers (in some instances alleging that a victim's account has been "flagged") after legitimate banks block suspicious money transfers.
The dispatched couriers authenticate themselves using a prearranged password or a specific dollar bill serial number. Following the pickup, victims observe a simulated rise in their digital wallet balance and try to withdraw their supposed profits, but the scammers restart the process and request additional cash for fabricated taxes and penalties, again gathered through couriers.
"Once victims have obtained cash and notify the primary scammer that they have the money, the scammer arranges for couriers to retrieve the cash from victims' homes or public places. Scammers give victims a U.S. dollar bill serial number or another form of code/password," the FBI explained.
"When the courier arrives, they display the dollar bill to the victim or provide the agreed-upon password to confirm the courier's connection to the scammer."
The law enforcement agency advised individuals to investigate cryptocurrency platforms prior to investing, avoid sharing their home addresses or handing cash to strangers, cease all contact following unsolicited wrong-number messages, and stay vigilant against "love bombing," a highly effective manipulation tactic used to quickly forge false trust with a target.
Victims are urged to promptly submit a complaint to the FBI, including as much detail as possible, such as the criminals' identities, communication methods, and bank accounts utilized in the fraud.
Two years ago, the FBI also issued a warning that couriers were being used to collect cash in various other scams, including, but not limited to, tech support and government impersonation schemes.
The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report indicated that U.S. victims lost nearly $21 billion to cyber-enabled crimes last year, highlighting that investment scams made up 49% of all scam-related incidents and resulted in $8.6 billion in losses.
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