This disgusting-sounding scam started in Southeast Asia but spread globally after COVID-19. It involves scammers “fattening up” victims with the promise of lucrative returns before “butchering” them for large amounts of money. Like many social engineering scams, pig butchering scammers reach out to many potential victims, but they only need one person to fall for the trap.
By understanding how pig butchering works and its warning signs, potential victims can protect themselves from falling prey.
Read: The Best Practices Against Cyber Attacks
Pig butchering is a combination of catfishing and investing; scammers spend months developing a “relationship” with victims before introducing a seemingly legitimate investment opportunity that ends with the scammer taking everything. The investment promises high returns after a short period of time, making it especially appealing to victims.
Scammers follow a series of steps to manipulate and deceive victims out of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. For example, a Kansas bank manager embezzled almost $50 million for a pig butchering scam.
The scam begins with a seemingly innocent message from a ransom person. Sometimes, it’s on a group chat, and other times, the scammer is messaging the “wrong person” or trying to pose as an old acquaintance. Some scammers even go after people on dating apps.
No matter what, the scammer is trying to go after lonely, vulnerable people seeking companionship or wanting to grow their wealth, especially if they’re retirees wanting to secure their financial future. The scammer then takes the chance to try and strike up a conversation to start a new “relationship,” whether it’s friendly or romantic.
The next step is to build trust and establish a connection. The scammer spends weeks, if not months, developing the relationship; they talk to the victim daily and show interest in their life, and the scammer will also create details about their lives that seem similar to the victim’s. This is to get the victim to trust the scammer and dispel any suspicions or fears they might have. The scammer might also use any personal information shared by the victim to later perform identity theft.
As the victim becomes more invested, they can’t see the scam for what it is.
As the relationship progresses, the scammer will eventually introduce the victim to a fake investment scheme that the scammer actually controls. Like phishing scammers, pig butchering scammers use persuasive language or a sense of urgency to push the victim into investing. The investment could be in stocks, cryptocurrency or insider trading.
The scammer created the brokerage site or app, making it appear realistic and official; these platforms often mimic the appearance and functionality of a genuine platform, so the victim struggles to see that it’s fake. The scammer might also share fake screenshots of their “investment portfolio” as “proof” that the scheme is credible and successful.
Once the victim agrees to the investment scam, it’s easy for the scammer to steal their money. The victim is encouraged to invest a small amount of money initially, and they might even be allowed to withdraw some money, all designed to make them trust the investment opportunity.
The scammer makes the investment platform look like the victim is “gaining” money when it’s actually gone and in the scammer’s pockets. However, this causes the victim to invest more and more money. All the while, the scammer is continuing the relationship with the victim, manipulating their emotions and exploiting their vulnerabilities.
Once the victim invests a significant amount of money, one of two things will then happen. The scammer will take all their money and then disappear. Or, the scammer will try for one final blow: they will make the investment platform say that the victim’s money can’t be accessed until they pay a “tax” or “fee,” which is really the scammer’s last-ditch effort at getting some more money before they then steal the money and leave.
The victim is left to face financial ruin, humiliation and losing what they thought was a genuine relationship.
Although pig butchering has become a dangerous global scam, there are no set numbers on the total amount of losses, as many victims are hesitant to report they got scammed; however, it’s believed to be in the billions, with the FBI claiming that cryptocurrency investment fraud grew more than 53% in 2023 to $4.5 billion.
Another sickening truth about pig butchering is that many of the scammers are actually human trafficking victims. Many were lured with the hopes of having a high-paying job before being kidnapped and forced to scam people by large criminal groups. Once they scam enough money, they might be released by the criminal group.
Victims fall for the scam for many reasons: the scammer’s persuasiveness, the built-up connection, the desire to gain money and the “realistic” investment platform. Keep these tips in mind to avoid being victim to the next pig butchering scam:
Instead of worrying about the next cyber attack or pig butchering scam, let a managed service provider take away that risk for you.
At Thriveon, we offer our clients robust cybersecurity services that can protect their businesses while meeting cybersecurity compliance and expanding their competitive edge.
Take our Cybersecurity Risk Assessment or schedule a meeting with us now for more information.