Answering your questions about pig butchering scams

Many Americans have experienced the frustrations of an unexpected charge or withdrawal from their bank accounts. Having to dispute a $50 charge or look to get a couple hundred dollars back is a true inconvenience.

But more and more reports are coming in about people losing significantly larger amounts of money – sometimes hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars – in an investment scam where the money is given willingly through false representation.

Fremont Bank’s Chief Information Security Officer, Mark Rhodes-Ousley, answers your questions about pig butchering scams.

Why is it called pig butchering?

These incidents are part of a troubling new trend state and federal investigators have dubbed “pig butchering” because the scammers feed victims with time and attention, in the same ways a butcher takes the time to fatten up a pig before the slaughter.

What is a pig butchering scam?

A scammer connects to a potential victim online, often over social media or via dating sites. Another route the scammer tries to initiate a conversation via text or SMS after an “accidental” or “misdialed” text and attempts to get the recipient to respond. Once an initial connection has been made, the scammer may try to shift the conversation to the messaging app WhatsApp.

Once hooked, the victim is connected to a WhatsApp profile featuring someone attractive. Using a fake persona, and a highly scripted process, the scammer works to gain the victim’s trust, often by flirting and building the aura of a romantic relationship or potential financial mentorship based on the scammer’s professed successes.

Over time, the scammer lures them into investing in fraudulent financial opportunities, often using fake cryptocurrency trading platforms. The amount of money the victim is asked to invest may increase over time as the scammer shares fake success stories and builds trust, even allowing the victim to withdraw small amounts of money. But then the scammer seizes the funds and steals all the money, cutting the victim off and ceasing communication.

Who is committing these scams?

Pig butchering scams leverage pacing, highly tested scripts, and refined processes. These scripts are tailored to the demographics of the victim – with messages that would appeal to a divorcee, a professional, someone who could be lonely, etc.

To achieve this, scams are perpetrated by worldwide criminal operations, often run by international gangs and crime syndicates. These gangs force people – often those who are vulnerable or trafficked or working under false pretenses – to run the scripts. Many of these individuals are also victims, forced into indentured servitude.

Who is falling prey to these kinds of scams?

Anyone. Highly educated, financially successful, and other stable and secure individuals can fall prey to these scams, and affluent individuals are often targeted. Scammers look at potential victims’ ages – appealing to someone close to retirement or at peak earning years pursuing a nice lifestyle.

How can I prevent a scam?

If you receive an unsolicited message or have someone expressing interest in you online from an account you cannot verify, cut off contact and block them. These scammers are skilled and relentless, working over a long period of time to build trust and manipulate victims.

Many victims are embarrassed and ashamed once they realize what’s happened, but that’s one of the tricks scammers use to isolate people.

If you think you are being scammed or have been the victim of a scam, stop contact immediately: block any further payments; and report it to your bank, local law enforcement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Be sure to preserve documentation like text messages or screen shots related to the scam.