Hundreds of West Africans targeted with pig butchering scam

West Africans become the latest targets of a malicious cybercriminal campaign that imitates financial advisors in the US to trick victims into a fraudulent transaction. Security experts refer to this recent campaign as ‘pig butchering,’ as the suspects employ social engineering to earn victims’ trust before defrauding them.

According to the security researchers’ investigations on the campaign, they discovered that unknown threat actors searched for and contacted their victims through professional networking sites, such as LinkedIn. West Africans are seemingly the prime targets of this specific campaign.

The researchers noted that these campaigns often have related scam websites the victims are instructed to visit to build their trust towards the threat actors. It is important for the threat actors to maintain the scam websites’ longevity, as it aids them in successfully launching their scam.

Thus, the fraudsters look for a hosting provider to facilitate them with such matters, considering how critical this step is for the entire operation. Live chats are also available on these malicious sites, where victims can directly talk with a fake financial advisor.

 

West Africans could be the target of this campaign since the threat actors are believed to have a physical presence in the region.

 

Based on an in-depth investigation of this pig butchering campaign, researchers described it as highly sophisticated for many reasons, including the threat actors’ bold attempts to establish fake websites of financial advisors.

Furthermore, it is assumed that the unidentified threat actors have a physical presence inside West Africa, which explains their seamless and directed attacks toward West Africans. It is also possible that a hosting provider is teamed up with the fraudulent group that allows the campaign to obtain approximately millions of dollars from the unsuspecting victims.

Companies, organisations, and individuals from West Africa must be vigilant against this ongoing campaign. Employing developed security strategies can protect them against threats of being scammed.

Entities must also ensure that the websites they are directed to are authentic, alongside examining whether the financial advisor they are engaging with is a legitimate professional. Being careful about such campaigns can save people from being potential targets and losing money to fraudsters.