In January, Brian Krebs, the cybercrime expert behind KrebsOnSecurity, exposed rapper Punchmade Dev, who glorifies cybercrime in his music videos, as a key figure behind online stores selling stolen bank account and payment card data. Now, the 22-year-old Kentucky native, identified as Devon Turner, is suing Kentucky-based PNC Bank after it blocked a $75,000 wire transfer and froze his account amidst an active law enforcement investigation.
According to security expert Brian Krebs, the term "pig butchering" refers to a heavily scripted and human-intensive process of using fake profiles on dating apps and social media to lure people into investing in elaborate scams. "The fraud is named for the way scammers feed their victims with promises of romance and riches before cutting them off and taking all their money," the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned in April 2022 in a podcast.