Couriers Turn Bank Friction Into Cash Exfiltration
Blocked transfers are no longer the end of the scam. Fraudsters are pushing victims into in-person cash pickups, so the money leaves the banking rail and moves through a courier handoff that standard transfer controls do not see.
The FBI says the courier proves affiliation with an agreed password or a dollar-bill serial number, then collects cash at a home or public location. The same scam cycle can repeat after a fake wallet balance appears, with more cash demanded for bogus taxes and penalties.
That shifts the control point from the bank to the handoff itself. Any fraud program that only watches for suspicious digital transfers will miss the step where the victim is persuaded to hand over cash offline.
FBI: Fraudsters use couriers to steal money in crypto scams
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned that criminals are using couriers to collect money from victims of cryptocurrency investment scams, also known as pig butchering or romance baiting.