About this Event
Romance or relationship investment confidence scams are stealing billions of dollars from American adults. Recent FBI estimates place reported losses to cryptocurrency investment fraud at nearly $4 billion. Globally, loss estimates are much higher. Relationship confidence fraud, which the criminals refer to as “pig butchering” fraud, has been linked to overseas organized crime syndicates, and fuels an underground economy of human trafficking and money laundering. Learn about the growing scale of this fraud, how to detect it, and how you can help spread the word about a crime that preys on loneliness, steals life savings, and ruins thousands of lives around the world.
Join the CFTC Office of Customer Education and Outreach (OCEO) and Dr. John Griffin, James A. Elkins Centennial Chair in Finance at the University of Texas, for a discussion of his recently released paper, How Do Crypto Flows Finance Slavery? The Economics of Pig Butchering. Dr. Griffin estimates losses from pig butchering to be as high as $75 billion.
In addition, a panel of state and federal regulators will discuss how to spot, stop, and report this fraud.
Nicholas Berta is a Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) in the FBI’s Economic Crimes Unit (ECU) at FBI Headquarters. SSA Berta is a Program Manager, supporting financial crimes investigations across the FBI. Additionally, SSA Berta serves as ECU’s training coordinator where SSA Berta develops and facilitates internal and external training. SSA Berta previously spent seven years as a case agent investigating financial crimes at the FBI Washington Field Office. Before joining the FBI, SSA Berta worked as a Certified Public Accountant at a public accounting firm.
Melanie Devoe has served as the Director of the Division of the Office of Customer Education and Outreach (OCEO) since October 2023. In her role, Ms. Devoe manages a team of employees dedicated to customer education initiatives at the CFTC’s Washington, D.C. Office.
Ms. Devoe has worked for the CFTC since 2008, both as an Attorney Advisor in the Whistleblower Office and as a Senior Trial Attorney in the Division of Enforcement. She has also worked for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Division of Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ Office of the Chief Counsel, and as a senior associate at an international law firm.
John M. Griffin is a professor of finance, and the James A. Elkins Centennial Chair in Finance at The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. A leading forensic finance expert, Griffin specializes in analyzing potentially illegal, illicit, or immoral actions in financial markets. His research covers a wide range of topics, including cryptocurrencies, the Paycheck Protection Program, the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and market manipulation.
Griffin has taught investments, international finance, and asset pricing at McCombs since 2004 and has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Yale, and HKUST. He is also the CEO and founder of Integra Research Group, which conducts forensic financial investigations. Griffin has published over 35 papers in top journals and is highly cited in the field.
Additional speakers pending.
OCEO is dedicated to helping customers protect themselves from fraud or violations of the Commodity Exchange Act through the research and development of effective financial education materials and initiatives. OCEO engages in outreach and education to retail investors. The office also frequently partners with federal and state regulators as well as consumer protection groups. The CFTC’s full repository of customer education materials can be found at: cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
300 W Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, 300 West Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard, Austin, United States
