Cyber Bytes: What Is a ‘Pig Butchering’ Scam?

Cybercriminals use lo-fi manipulation tactics to infiltrate personal and work networks. Their aim: gain your trust before scamming you out of everything.

In late 2023, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a U.S. Treasury entity, alerted financial institutions and the global public about an investment scam that’s been circulating. It’s called “pig butchering,” named after the practice of fattening a pig for slaughter. In this case, the pigs are the human victims, and the slaughter is draining their bank accounts.

Read on to learn about the scam and ways to avoid becoming a victim.

How a pig butchering scam works

Fraudsters use fictitious identities to initiate relationships. They engage in a “love-bombing” phase where they are dedicated, attentive and always there for the victim. They pretend to be interested in a romance or friendship, carefully building the relationship over prolonged periods, usually several months.

Over time, the victim comes to know them as a trusted confidante and exchanges personal information without thinking. Meanwhile, the scammer absorbs all the information they can on the victim to use in their scam. Everything they learn helps them further manipulate the victim into trusting them without question. But the victim just thinks they’ve found a loving relationship with someone genuinely interested in them.

The victim becomes fully invested in the relationship and won’t question the scammer, no matter how outlandish a story might sound.

That’s when the scammer hits the victim with a cryptocurrency investment opportunity to solve all their problems. It could be a small request, initially. They link the victim to a legitimate-looking platform or banking institution to open an account and deposit the funds. The victim is left to set up the account that will eventually be their demise. The first few “investments” typically show a profit as a confidence builder. But it’s all a setup to steal the victim’s life savings.

The scam ends when there’s nothing left to take. Victims are left penniless, in debt, emotionally devastated and confused.

Even though pig butchering and catfishing scams exploit relationships to deceive, they use different tactics. Catfishing is shorter, and usually committed by an individual. Pig butchering is longer, and involves criminal group operations that use extreme emotional manipulation to win the long game of stealing someone’s life savings. Patience is their key strategy.

A real-life pig butchering story

One victim reported his story to Forbes in 2022. The scheme took months and hundreds of text messages. The fraudster texted the victim, saying they were old coworkers and wanted to catch up. Then she sent pictures of the lunch she was eating. She talked to the victim like she knew him already, and they bonded over a love of sushi.

He later shared details about his life: He had a wife, an ailing father, a college-bound daughter and growing financial stress. The scammer used the victim’s situation to set him up for a takedown. She offered him tips on a stock-trading platform she’d been using that made her fast cash. He opened an account, and his investments skyrocketed, just as promised.

Months passed, and the scammer convinced him to continue investing in the cryptocurrency platform. Every time he checked his account, his investments were on the rise. Until one day, the platform disappeared along with the $1 million he’d invested. The trading platform was fake, and the schemers made off with his entire life savings.