According to reports, over the past year, Australians have lost at least 180 million Australian dollars (approximately $122 million) due to cryptocurrency investment fraud.

Victims under the age of 50 now account for about 60% of fraud reports, which is higher than older Australians, who are generally considered more vulnerable to such projects

Data collected by the Australian Cybersecurity Center (ACSC) shows that fraudsters often resort to strong pressure tactics and various methods to deceive victims and force them to make poor investment choices, with two common strategies being "pig butchering" schemes and deepfake technology.

"Pig butchering" is a term used to refer to a type of fraud in which an attacker purposefully builds a long—term relationship with the victim in order to then fraudulently extort significant amounts of money from her. This fraud often begins with online dating or friendship, where the perpetrator has been gaining the victim's trust for a long time (sometimes months or even years), creating the illusion of sincere interest and affection. When trust is achieved, the fraudster begins to convince the victim to invest money in various "profitable" projects or send funds to the needs of the fraudster. After receiving the money, the attacker disappears, leaving the victim without funds and with a broken relationship.

The name "butchering a pig" metaphorically describes the process: a fraudster "fattens" the victim with attention and false promises before "butchering" her, that is, to lure out all possible resources

Deepfake is a type of cyber fraud in which attackers use deepfake technology to create fake audio or video recordings that look and sound like real ones. These fakes can portray someone from real people, such as celebrities, politicians, or even acquaintances and colleagues of the victim, and be used for deception, manipulation, or blackmail.