India is working with tech giants Google and Facebook to combat the rise in pig slaughter scams, which often involve using cryptocurrencies as a hook to lure victims and a tool to launder stolen money.

According to the year 2024 a report From the Indian Home Ministry, pig slaughter or investment scams have been targeting “unemployed youth, housewives, students, and the needy,” exploiting their lack of financial security and confidence to lure them into fraudulent schemes that promise quick and big returns.

The report added that victims "lose large sums of money (even borrowed money) on a daily basis," noting that scams are increasingly being promoted using... Google Advertising Services And messaging platforms like Whatsapp and Telegram.

To combat this, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, working under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has collaborated with Google and Facebook to proactively report relevant activities, such as malicious ads, detect fraudulent digital lending apps, and identify phishing campaigns associated with these scams.

Among other efforts to combat cryptocurrency-related crimes, cryptocurrency exchanges have been integrated into Citizen Financial's cyber fraud reporting and management system, enabling suspicious cryptocurrency transactions to be detected and blocked faster. The platform acts as a central hub where law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, payment wallets and cryptocurrency platforms collaborate to prevent the illicit flow of funds.

In addition, specialized cryptocurrency investigation training courses are being conducted nationwide to equip police officials with the necessary skills to track cryptocurrency transactions, seize digital assets, and analyze blockchain evidence, the report added.

With the high rate of adoption at the grassroots level, India has been a prime target Crypto fraud ringsare often operated from, especially across, the country Regions such as Southeast Asia.

As such, the authorities have actively worked to increase oversight of the currently unorganized sector. In 2023, the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit Assignment Cryptocurrency exchanges must register as a reporting entity in order to operate in the country.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate, India's economic intelligence agency under the Finance Ministry, has cracked down on several high-profile fraud incidents, some of which have cost victims millions of dollars.

In June 2024, Ed I froze More than $3 million in assets were linked to the Highrich crypto Ponzi group, which promised returns of up to 15% on investments in fake cryptocurrency. Just months later, the agency Take it apart Another fake cryptocurrency, resulting in losses of more than $800,000.