Hackers are making billions off an absolutely evil, if not diabolical, scam called Pig Butchering. The name is awful, but the scam is even worse. Pig butchering, also called Romance Baiting originated in China. It’s a social engineering scam that involves seducing a victim into a long-distance romance for the sole purpose of stealing money through deception. Millions of innocent people have had their hearts broken and bank accounts wiped out by this scam.

This cybercrime is normally carried out in 5 phases.

Phase 1: The hacker identifies a target.

The hacker searches for a victim using social media, dating sites, message boards or even gaming sites. They look for someone who seems lonely or is looking for companionship. They also try to identify someone who may be trusting and gullible. But most important, they target individuals who appear to have financial means. 

Phase 2: The hacker establishes contact with the victim. 

The scammer will randomly reach out and initiate a conversation. The hacker may send an innocent text message, email or direct message on a social media app. Often the message is really short like, “Hey!”, “Hi friend”, or “How have you been?”. They do this to trigger your curiosity then pull you into a conversation. In other scenarios, the hacker may engage someone in a chatroom or on a messaging platform. 

Phase 3: The hacker will love bomb the victim.

After the hacker successfully establishes communications with the target, he or she will nurture the relationship over time. Often, the hacker will love bomb the victim. Love bombing is a manipulation technique where he or she will lavish excessive affection or praise of the target and express infatuation. All of this communication will happen by phone, text or email but never in person. Very quickly the victim believes that he or she is falling for the new admirer.

Phase 4: The hacker creates trust with the victim.

The hacker will work diligently to build trust with the victim. He or she may do this by investing a considerable amount of time on the relationship. The victim and hacker may message each other for weeks or months on end, engaging in what the victim believes is a real relationship. The hacker may even talk about traveling someday so they can be with each other in person. But the situation will be complicated, the hacker will have excuses. Maybe he or she will say getting a Visa to travel is a challenge, or they have a busy job or an elderly parent to care for. 

The hacker may open up about his or her personal life and share intimate details. They may discuss personal hardships and ask for advice, treating the victim as a highly valued confidante. The hacker may even send pictures and videos about their daily life so that the victim feels like an integral part of the hacker’s personal life. But of course, everything the hacker sends is fake. Most likely, it’s just a scammer working a script from a distant call center. They care nothing about the victim, it’s all just a cruel joke and effort to rob the innocent victim.

Phase 5: The hacker will start extracting money from the victim.

After the hacker establishes trust with the victim, he or she will initiate a money scheme. The hacker will ask for a loan or sell the victim on an outrageously profitable investment.  All the victim must do is send money or crypto. In some cases, the victim will be sent to an elaborate website that looks like a legitimate investment firm where the victim can research the fake investment, and deposit money.  Over time, the victim is bilked out of more and more money while entrusting the hacker and believing he or she is in love. After the hacker has what they want from the scheme, the hacker disappears without a trace along with the victim’s life savings.  The victim is left devastated and with no way to get their money back. This crime has driven some victims to harm themselves.

You may think there’s no way you would ever fall for this scam, but anyone can get caught up in one of these schemes. AI (Artificial Intelligence) is making impersonation cyberattacks even easier to pull off and very convincing.

• A study estimated that victims around the world lost about $75 billion to these scams in the last four years alone.
• The FBI estimates that Americans lost almost $4 billion to pig butchering and other cryptocurrency-related frauds in 2023. That number increased by 40% in 2024.
• Experts believe actual losses are much higher than reported, because many victims are too ashamed or embarrassed to come forward and report their losses.

 So how to you prevent getting butchered in one of these scams?

• Ignore and delete random text messages and emails from strangers. Don’t let curiosity pull you in!
• Be vigilant if someone seems overly aggressive in pursuing you romantically or seeking an online or long-distance relationship.
• Do not pursue a long-distance relationship where you cannot meet up with the individual in person and validate their identity.
• Guard your financial information with new and online friends. Do not share details about your income, net worth, living situation, investments or savings. 
• Do not engage in new investment opportunities pitched by strangers or new friends online. Invest with federally regulated financial institutions only.

You can research if a bank or investment company is legitimate at: www.ffiec.gov

The FFIEC is an organization within the U.S. government that sets standards for financial institutions, they also conduct audits and provide oversight. You can search for information about banks, brokerages and other financial institutions on their website. 

If you do find yourself involved in a similar situation, trust your gut. It doesn’t matter how nice, attractive or helpful this person may be to you, scammers can be extremely convincing and manipulative. This is their full-time job. 

Do not be fooled if they send you pictures of themselves to prove their legitimacy, or if they send you to a professional looking website for investing. If the person only wants to communicate virtually and refuses to meet, it’s a huge red flag. Lastly, and most important, if a new online friend starts digging into your money matters, asks for a loan or tries to push you into joining a business arrangement or investment, block the individual immediately and cease all communications.

Be careful online, and don’t get butchered.