Escaping The Pig Butcher: Avoiding The Online Scam Stealing Billions
To some, pig butchering is nothing more than requesting a special cut at the meat market. Unfortunately, it's become a notorious form of cybercrime that causes complete financial devastation for its victims. Pig butchering (Sha Zhu Pan, which translates to 'killing pig plate') has a far more nefarious meaning. The Department of Financial Protection & Innovation defines pig butchering as a 'form of investment fraud in the crypto space where scammers build relationships with targets through social engineering and then lure them to invest crypto in fake opportunities or platforms created by the scammer.' Pig butchering has conned billions of dollars from victims worldwide. The New York Post recently reported that the Cambodian-based Huione Group gang has reaped over $4 billion between August 2021 and January 2025 alone.
There are a few things to watch out for to avoid being lured into such extortion schemes. Often, they target seniors and other populations less familiar with cybercrime. According to The National Council on Aging, such scams often start with receiving a message out of the blue claiming to mistake you for someone else or having online profile pictures that look like a model. It's really important not to respond or send money to random people who contact you online, no matter how compelling their story is. Scammers are dependent upon gaining your trust, and a sympathetic or catchy story is a great way to do that.
Another big warning sign is getting messages via SMS or social media that quickly redirect you to chat on another platform like Telegram or WeChat, which are less regulated and moderated. They might convince you to invest a small amount of money, which is then returned to you at a bigger profit. Before too long, the amounts of money being requested increase by leaps and bounds. A recent story out of Ohio details how an initial request for $10,000 quickly turned into a request for $500,000 to unlock any profits that were made. Even more appalling, the scammer requested the victim to 'go to a loan shark' to get the funds!
In 2024, Meta removed 'over 2 million accounts' suspected of running crypto investment scams like pig butchering. Companies are starting to do more to combat pig butchering, but it's still a very real problem. A big step in their effort to keep people from falling for these scams is raising awareness through public posts broadcasting safety tips. They recently started rolling out warnings in Facebook Messenger and Instagram DMs tipping users off to 'potentially suspicious interactions or cold outreach from people you don't know', which is a good start. Banks are also beginning to require customers to acknowledge the dangers of scams when transferring money by ACH, Zelle, and wire.
If you think you've been a victim of pig butchering, it's very important to both contact your bank and file a fraud report with the Federal Trade Commission. The sooner you report an incident, the more that can be done to help you potentially recover any lost funds. A recent blog from Norton advises victims to keep track of information, including 'messages, transaction records, and scammer contact information,' to better help authorities combat fraud.
Although pig-butchering is an online scam that isn't going away anytime soon, the public can better protect themselves by being more aware of the warning signs and consequences of being involved in such a scheme. It reminds one of the classic saying, 'If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!'
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