MRC Amsterdam 2025 Keynote: Erin West on Pig Butchering Scams and the Fight for Payment Integrity
At MRC Amsterdam 2025, Erin West, founder of Operation Shamrock and former prosecutor, will deliver the keynote: Crypto, Coercion, and the Scamdemic that Flows on Your Payment Rails Sponsored by Signifyd.
Ahead of the event, Erin shared her perspective on pig butchering scams, why they’re more than just consumer fraud, and what gives her hope for the future.
You’re delivering the keynote at MRC Amsterdam 2025. Without giving too much away, what are you most excited to share with the community?
What excites me most is the chance to show that we’re not powerless against these scams. I’ll be sharing stories and examples that connect the dots-how criminals exploit the system, but also how we can push back. My goal is for people to walk out not just with awareness, but with a sense that they can be part of the solution.
Pig butchering scams are often seen as individual consumer issues. Why is it critical for the payments and merchant risk community to understand them as part of a larger, systemic problem?
Because they are systemic. These aren’t random fraudsters targeting people one at a time-this is organized crime operating at scale. They use forced labor, they run call centers, they launder billions through the same payment channels legitimate businesses use. If we treat them as isolated consumer complaints, we’re missing the bigger picture. For the payments world, it’s really about protecting the integrity of the entire ecosystem.
You founded Operation Shamrock after more than 25 years as a prosecutor. How has that journey shaped your perspective on scams and transnational organized crime?
As a prosecutor, I saw victims after the damage was already done. People who had lost their savings, their trust, sometimes their families. And what I kept running into was how fragmented the response was. Criminal groups don’t stop at borders, but our systems often do. Operation Shamrock came out of the belief that we needed to break down those walls-law enforcement, businesses, and communities working together instead of in silos.
Many people don’t realize that human trafficking is tied to these scams. What should the business community know about the human impact behind pig butchering operations?
It’s important to understand this isn’t just about money. A lot of these scams are run out of compounds where people are trafficked, beaten, and forced to scam under threat. So you have two layers of victims: the person who loses their savings and the person forced to carry out the fraud. Once you see that human cost, it becomes harder to treat this as just another financial crime.
You’ve spent years on the frontlines of this work. What keeps you motivated, and what gives you hope as you look ahead?
I’m motivated by the victims, both the scam survivors and the people trapped in these compounds. They remind me every day why this work matters. What gives me hope is the shift I’ve seen in the past few years—businesses and law enforcement realizing they can’t fight this alone. That spirit of collaboration is what will make the difference.
Don't Miss This Keynote
Erin West’s keynote, Crypto, Coercion, and the Scamdemic that Flows on Your Payment Rails, will take place on Tuesday, 4 November at MRC Amsterdam 2025.
It’s not too late to secure your tickets to this member-only event—register now and check out the full agenda!
