What Is a Pig Butchering Scam?
So what is a pig butchering scam? If you’ve been a victim of a fraud, you may not even realize it until it was too late. And that’s because the pig butchering method is being used by scammers. And what is it? Sadly, we get dozens of calls and contacts every day from people who are victims of this kind of scam. They have been groomed over the course of weeks or months, sometimes over a year, by people online on social media, maybe on dating apps. That kind of build-up of the relationship creates trust, and then they go in for the kill.
How Scammers Operate
Then they ask you for money. And usually, they do that slowly as well. They start to ask you for a small amount of money and then gradually build it up until they’ve taken everything you have. It requires so much time and patience by the scammer that you would never think that you’re being scammed because the person just put too much into it. The reason that they’re able to do it is they have teams of people on the other end that are working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s not just one person you’re talking to. They might seem like you’re just talking to one person with one name and one picture, but they have a crew, a staff that’s rotating so they can always talk to you. And sometimes one of the people might quit or leave the company or get fired or move. They have somebody else step right in.
Building Trust and Confidence
Over time, they’ll gain your confidence. They’ll ask you for a small amount of money — $100, $1,000 — something that’s very reasonable. You send it to them. They’ll show you a very large return. Maybe you double your money in a month. And they say if you put more in, you’ll make more money. Gradually, they’ll build it up. They know exactly how to talk to you, exactly what to say. And if you get to the point where you’re skeptical and you want to take your money out, they’ll say no problem. We’ll give you your money, but you have to pay tax. And then you pay the tax, and that’s more money in their pocket.
How to Protect Yourself
Be aware of these pig butchering scams. They don’t look like a scam. They look like a legitimate investment. Always verify that any investment being offered to you is registered with the SEC as a registered investment security. Look at the history and background of the principles. Make sure that you’re not just going by a picture and a name. Sometimes they’ll even hijack somebody’s name off of LinkedIn or Facebook to make it look like a real person. But contact them through another channel to make sure it’s really the person.
