“Pig butchering” is in the sights of Australia’s corporate regulator.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) has warned consumers to be vigilant when dealing online with investment websites and what may turn out to be romance baiting scams.
ASIC said it had successfully applied to wind-up 95 companies, many of which may be associated with these "pig-butchering" scams, a name emanating from the concept of fattening stock before slaughter.
The brother of Olympic break dancer Rachel ‘Raygun’ Gunn was caught up in the crackdown, with Brendan Gunn charged in March with allegedly dealing with crime proceeds connected to an international scam ring.
ASIC said the Federal Court granted its application to wind-up the companies after finding most had been incorporated with false information.
The Court agreed with ASIC there was a justifiable lack of confidence in the conduct and management of each company, with Justice Angus Stewart calling the case for winding up each company “overwhelming”.
Many of the companies were also associated with websites and apps, which ASIC believes may have been involved in tricking consumers into investments in phony foreign exchange, digital asset or commodities trading.
“ASIC believes many of these companies were set up with the aim of providing a veneer of credibility by purporting to provide genuine services,” ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said in a media release.
Court said that scammers were using increasingly complex techniques to target victims, including setting up sham companies and professional looking websites and apps and, in some cases, the companies were incorporated using stolen identities.
“Scammers will use every tool they can think of to steal people’s money and personal information,” she said.
“However, these scams are like hydras: you shut down one and two more take its place."
ASIC’s latest Enforcement and Regulatory Update indicates more than 10,000 sites have been taken down.
