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Chainalysis said that crypto wallets linked to scams received $9.9 billion in cryptocurrency in 2024, according to its initial estimates

Boonchai Wedmakawand | Moment | Getty Images

Crypto fraud revenue is estimated to have hit record levels last year amid a surge in so-called romance scams as cybercriminals leverage artificial intelligence and become more organized, blockchain research firm Chainalysis warns.

In a report released Thursday, the firm said that crypto wallets linked to scams received $9.9 billion in cryptocurrency in 2024, according to its initial estimates. It predicts 2024’s figure to grow to a record of $12.4 billion as Chainalysis identifies more scam wallets. 

Chainalysis added that its yearly estimates of scam activity have risen by an average of 24% between annual reporting periods since 2020. 

According to its 2024 report, a leading reason for the uptick in scam revenue was an increase in the prevalence of romance scams, commonly known as “pig butchering.”

Pig butchering is a type of investing or romance scam in which a fraudster builds relationships with victims via social media or dating apps, intending to con them out of money through a sham investment opportunity. 

The name “pig butchering” comes from the idea that scammers must first “fatten up” the victims with flattery and fabricated bonds before “butchering,” or stealing their money.

More victims sent to slaughter 

In 2024, pig butchering revenue grew nearly 40% year over year, with the number of deposits to pig butchering scams growing nearly 210% over the same period, according to Chainalysis. 

The firm said that those differing growth rates indicated an expansion of the victim pool, prioritizing more victims in exchange for smaller payments. 

While pig butchering scams predominantly originate from large scam compounds in Southeast Asia, there are signs that such scam centers have begun to become more geographically dispersed, the report stated. 

Last December, Nigeria’s anti-graft agency announced the arrest of 792 people in a raid on a building, where the suspects were believed to be running romance scams that targeted people mostly from Europe and the Americas, according to Reuters.

Romance scams often rely on human trafficking victims to carry out fraud. An investigation by ProPublica in 2022 outlined how Chinese criminal syndicates were trafficking victims to centers in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, forcing them to perform cyberfraud under threat of violence. 

While those scam compounds are often known for running pig butchering scams, they also act as havens for other types of frauds that can be carried out via the internet, according to Eric Heintz, a global analyst at International Justice Mission, who is cited in the Chainalysis report. 

“It’s not uncommon to have multiple criminal groups operating within the same compound focusing on different scams,” he added. 

Scam ecosystem ‘professionalizes’

The dynamic of multiple criminal groups operating within a compound has also materialized online through the creation of illicit crypto marketplaces and networks, according to Chainalysis. 

Primarily, this trend has been driven by Huione Guarantee, an online forum and peer-to-peer marketplace Chainalysis says operates as a “one-stop-shop” for illicit actors looking for the technology, infrastructure and resources to conduct scams. 

The Chinese-language platform is connected to Huione Group, a Cambodian conglomerate that offers legitimate services such as overseas remittances, insurance and, in the past, even luxury tourism offerings. 

According to Chainalysis, Huione Guarantee’s activity on blockchains indicates that it’s heavily used to support the pig butchering industry and for illicit crypto-based trading of scam technology products and services. 

One of the main services that can be found on the platform is money laundering, which scammers use to conceal their illicit activity, according to Chainalysis data.  

Meanwhile, some of the illicit products found on the site include targeted data lists, web hosting services, social media accounts and AI software. In 2024, Huione scam technology vendors received at least $375.9 million in cryptocurrency. 

Since 2021, Huione Guarantee and vendors advertising through its platforms have processed $70 billion in crypto transactions.

“In short, Huione Guarantee has driven and enabled a scam ecosystem that is massive, growing, and interconnected,” the firm said in its report. 

Huione Group did not respond to a CNBC inquiry.

Artificial intelligence facilitates scams

In 2024, some of the most successful vendors on the Huione platform were AI service providers, who saw revenue grow by 1,900% year over year, as per Chainalysis data. 

This growth indicates an explosion in the use of generative AI technology to facilitate crypto scams, which often entails scammers using the tech to impersonate others or generate realistic content that fool victims into making phony investments.

Chainalysis’s report said there are dozens of software vendors hosted on Huione Guarantee that sell this type of scam AI software. 

According to Elad Fouks, head of fraud products at Chainalysis and co-founder of fraud-detection app Alterya, who is quoted in the report, generative AI can be used to amplify and scale up crypto fraud and crimes. 

“GenAI enables the generation of realistic fake content, including websites and listings, to power investment scams, purchase scams, and more, making these attacks more convincing and harder to detect,” Fouks said. 

Some Huione vendors are even advertising “face-changing services” for $200 worth of cryptocurrency. 

Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched in 2022 and saw its popularity grow, there have been a growing number of cases of large firms losing millions to deepfake scams. Such scams use generative AI to create synthetic and fake identities and voices that allow fraudsters to impersonate real people and bypass identity verification controls

Chainalysis says that the potential of AI technology to scale crypto scams exponentially further adds to the challenges associated with combating those crimes. 

Tackling crypto scams at scale will require sustained efforts from government agencies, regulators and organizations, the firm said.

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Palo Alto Networks reports earnings beat, says founder Nir Zuk retiring from company

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Palo Alto Networks reports earnings beat, says founder Nir Zuk retiring from company

Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, looks on during the closing bell at the Nasdaq Market in New York City on March 25, 2025.

Jeenah Moon | Reuters

Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results and issued upbeat guidance for the current period. The cybersecurity software vendor said Nir Zuk, who founded the company in 2005, is retiring from his role as chief technology officer.

The stock rose about 6% in extended trading.

Here’s how the company did compared to LSEG estimates:

  • Earnings: 95 cents adjusted vs. 88 cents expected
  • Revenue: $2.54 billion vs. $2.5 billion expected.

Revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter rose 16% from about $2.2 billion last year, the company said in a statement. Net income fell to about $254 million, or 36 cents per share, from about $358 million, or 51 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

The company also issued upbeat guidance for the fiscal first quarter. Earnings per share will be between 88 cents and 90 cents, Palo Alto said, topping an 85-cents estimate from StreetAccount.

For the full year, Palo Alto said revenue will range from $10.48 billion to $10.53 billion on adjusted earnings of $3.75 to $3.85 per share. Both estimates exceeded Wall Street’s projections.

Palo Alto said that for the fiscal first quarter, remaining purchase obligations, which tracks backlog, will range between $15.4 billion and $15.5 billion, surpassing a $15.07 billion estimate.

Last month, the company announced plans to buy Israeli identity security provider CyberArk for $25 billion. It’s the largest deal Palo Alto has made since its founding, and most ambitious in an acquiring spree that ramped up after CEO Nikesh Arora took the helm of the company in 2018.

Shares sold off sharply after the news broke and have yet to recover previous highs. The stock is down about 3% this year as of Monday’s close.

“We look for great products, a team that can execute in the product, and we let them run it,” Arora told CNBC following the announcement. “This is going to be a different challenge, but we’ve done well 24 times, so I’m pretty confident that our team can handle this.”

Lee Klarich, the company’s product chief, will replace Zuk as CTO and fill his position on the board.

WATCH: Power check on Palo Alto, Viking Holdings and Estee Lauder

Power Check: Palo Alto Networks, Viking Holdings, and Estee Lauder

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Musk’s Starlink suffers apparent outage as SpaceX launches more satellites

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Musk's Starlink suffers apparent outage as SpaceX launches more satellites

Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Satellite internet service Starlink, which is owned and operated by Elon Musk‘s SpaceX, appeared to suffer a brief network outage on Monday, with thousands of reports of service interruptions on Downdetector, a site that logs tech issues.

The outage marked the second in two weeks for Starlink. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The network’s July 24 outage lasted for several hours, with SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Engineering Michael Nicolls blaming the matter on “failure of key internal software services that operate the core network” behind Starlink.

That outage followed the launch of T-Mobile‘s Starlink-powered satellite service, a direct-to-cell-phone service created to keep smartphone users connected “in places no carrier towers can reach,” according to T-Mobile’s website.

SpaceX provides Starlink internet service to more than six million users across 140 countries, according to the company’s website, though churn and subscriber rates are not publicly reported by the company.

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The SpaceX Starlink constellation is far larger than any competitor. It currently features over 7,000 operational broadband satellites, according to research by astronomer Jonathan McDowell.

On Monday, Musk’s SpaceX successfully launched another group of satellites to add to its Starlink constellation from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California.

SpaceX is currently aiming to increase the number of launches and landings from Vandenberg from 50 to about 100 annually.

On Thursday last week, the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to oppose the U.S. Space Force application to conduct that higher volume of SpaceX launches there.

The Commission has said that SpaceX and Space Force officials have failed to properly evaluate and report on potential impacts of increased launches on neighboring towns, and local wildlife, among other issues.

President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order seeking to ease environmental regulations seen by Musk, and others, as hampering commercial space operations.

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Tesla Optimus rival Unitree shines at the ‘World Humanoid Robot Games’ in China

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Tesla Optimus rival Unitree shines at the 'World Humanoid Robot Games' in China

First-ever World Humanoid Robot Games conclude in Beijing — here are the highlights

The first “World Humanoid Robot Games” is in the books.

The three-day competition hosted in Beijing wrapped on Sunday, attracting 280 teams from 16 countries, including the U.S. Teams used robots manufactured by Chinese companies such as Unitree and Booster.

During the games, humanoid athletes competed in dance battles, martial arts, track and field events such as the 400-meter and 1500-meter races and long jump, and a soccer tournament.

“Robots have stronger joints and core strength,” said Guo Tong, who programmed one of the futuristic footballers for his team, Hephaestus.

Guo said he sees robots replacing his idol, soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, by 2050.

“Robots are easier to coach,” Chinese Olympic boxer Li Yang told CNBC while watching his robot slug it out with another. “Humans are emotional.”

Hangzhou-based Unitree, seen as a competitor to Tesla‘s Optimus, won multiple medals. Beijing-based X-Humanoid and Hong Kong-listed Shenzhen firm UBTECH also impressed.

Humanoid robots from Unitree Robotics win the first place in the 4x100m Relay of Track and Field event on day three of the World Humanoid Robot Games at National Speed Skating Oval on August 17, 2025 in Beijing, China.

Zhang Xiangyi | China News Service | Getty Images

The Chinese government has targeted humanoid robots as a key future industry for the economy and Beijing has plans to build a world-class industry of humanoid robots by 2027.

The games are the latest in a series of events and programs aimed at promoting humanoid robot technology. China announced plans to hold its second Olympics-style event for humanoid robots next August.

Robots also put job skills to the test, showcasing their abilities as drug store clerks, factory workers, and hotel staff.

One challenge for a robot in housekeeping was to pick up all the garbage in a mock hotel room and take out the trash. Referees told CNBC the biggest obstacle for those robots was opening and closing the door.

Robot designer Wang Xidong says the competition is key to testing the robots’ skills and improving them.

“We are refining our robots,” Wang said. “Everyone feels motivated to compete.”

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