What Is Pig Butchering Scam In Crypto?

Pig butchering scams have become prevalent globally, with perpetrators using various models to defraud victims. This confidence scam involves building trust over time before exploiting victims, often through romance or crypto investment schemes. Scammers lure victims to send substantial crypto funds to fake platforms, leaving them with significant losses. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has reported a surge in pig butchering complaints, with over $400 million lost. Experts believe the true extent of the problem is under-reported due to victims' shame.

Scammers have deployed several models to defraud victims with schemes like pig butchering gaining popularity among bad actors. Pig butchering is a confidence scam that involves luring people to send huge amounts of money, mostly through crypto to scammers. 

Pig butchering is not the regular internet scamming method as it mostly involves conscious communication over time. Perpetrators build trust before the victim is exploited. The name is derived from this process as a pig (the victim) is fattened up (communication) before leading it to the butcher (scam). 

Pig butchering scams are popular in South East Asia with perpetrators also victims of wider crime gangs. Most times, the scammers are lured abroad for work or other reasons and kidnapped and threatened to carry out the scam. 

Models Deployed By Bad Actors

Scammers use various strategies including romance talk, and crypto investment models to sway victims to send money. A popular example of pig butchering is this sequence. The scammer picks out a target and messages about a random subject. Victims engage in conversation and trust of built from there.

In a romance model, the scammer would then ask for crypto periodically. In a larger crypto investment model, the scam would pitch a trading platform or something similar that can earn money. This is often a fake website created by the bad actor to drain the victim’s funds. In some reported cases in the United States, the victims are told to deposit funds for trading benefits over time. At first, they get paid and are lured to sink in more funds, a trick to build the trust of users.

When the scammer takes more assets, the pig butchering process is complete as the scammer blocks the victim. From reported cases, cryptocurrencies are preferred by bad actors because of their difficult tracking, especially through decentralized exchanges. 

Global Surge in Pig Butchering 

A TRM Labs report shows the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has received over 4,300 pig butchering complaints with many global authorities recording increased daily numbers. According to the report, losses exceeded over $400 million with global regulators creating awareness of the impact of the scam. 

Experts believe the number of pig butchering cases is under-reported as a result of a feeling of shame after losing one’s assets to romance scams or other related models. 

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