By IT Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
A scam, often associated with cryptocurrency, where malicious actors use social engineering to convince their victims to invest money in fake investment platforms. The scheme often follows a specific playbook.
Wrong number. Pig butchering scammers will likely have access to a list of phone numbers exposed through data breaches or data brokers. To kick off the scheme, they will send out a mass text to their potential victims. The text may attempt to lure users to respond—often with a message saying “wrong number” by addressing the person on the receiving end by the wrong name, or sending an out-of-context message.
Strangers to lovers? Once they have captured the attention of their targets, the scammers then engage in conversation with them. Scammers in this type of scheme are in it for the long game; they will often take the time to build a high level of trust with their victims over an extended period of time.
During conversations, the scammer may embellish facts about their own life to mimic the victim’s personal life. Seemingly innocent conversations may be used to gather details on their victims that can later be leveraged.
It’s not uncommon for scammers to build romantic connections with their potential victims, with some finding targets on dating platforms. For this reason, pig butchering is sometimes considered a type of romance scam.
Stay invested. After building a bond with their victim, scammers will then begin to shift discussions with potential victims to their investment endeavors. Their hope is to be able to convince their target to invest increasing quantities of money into fake investment platforms before ultimately stealing the funds. Some malicious actors will even go as far as allowing their victims to withdraw small amounts of money to encourage further investments. Once the scammer has stolen money, they will often stop all communication with them or move on to target their friends and family.
Researchers estimate that pig butchering scammers stole more than $75 billion from victims between 2020 and 2024.
What’s in a name? Pig butchering gets its name from how malicious actors slowly build trust with their victims before stealing their money, similar to how a pig is fattened up before it is slaughtered.
