A sophisticated long-con scam where attackers build a romantic or friendly relationship with victims over weeks or months (the "fattening"), then lure them into fraudulent cryptocurrency or investment platforms to steal their money (the "slaughter").
A sophisticated long-con scam where attackers build a romantic or friendly relationship with victims over weeks or months (the "fattening"), then lure them into fraudulent cryptocurrency or investment platforms to steal their money (the "slaughter").
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Pig butchering (from the Chinese term "sha zhu pan") is one of the fastest-growing and most devastating scam types. The name comes from the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter — scammers invest significant time building trust before extracting maximum money.
These scams typically begin with a "wrong number" text or a match on a dating app. The scammer builds a genuine-feeling relationship, then casually mentions their success with cryptocurrency or stock trading. They eventually guide the victim to a fake but convincing trading platform.
What makes pig butchering particularly cruel is the human trafficking element. Many of the scammers are themselves victims — trafficked individuals forced to work in scam compounds across Southeast Asia, operating under threat of violence.
In 2023, a California woman lost $2.6 million to a pig butchering scam. What began as a friendship on LinkedIn evolved into what she believed was a mentoring relationship. Over three months, she invested her retirement savings, a home equity loan, and borrowed from family into a fake crypto platform.