5 Tips for Spotting and Avoiding Pig Butchering Scams

Pig butchering scams came onto the scene a few years ago and have been gaining momentum ever since. A unique take on an old classic, pig butchering is a typical investment scam with a romantic or relationship-based twist. The large sums of “invested” money are typically funneled into fake crypto apps where they are promptly lost. Those who have fallen victim to pig butchering scams have taken out home mortgage loans, borrowed from friends and family, and even lost their life savings on the financial advice of those they were led to believe cared about them.

The more you know about this type of social engineering exploit, the better.

How Do Pig Butchering Scams Work?

Often, pig butchering scams start by texting the victim via SMS, or increasingly frequently on WhatsApp, either pretending to be a wrong number or an acquaintance from the past, immediately striking up a friendly conversation with a victim. Communication is very frequent (several times a day) and soon turns to investment talk.

The Power of Persuasion

Most people now know to avoid requests for money, so scammers are getting smarter and using persuasion rather than direct requests. Through discussions about investments and profits, the victim is slowly sucked into what looks like an innocent conversation but is actually in a grooming stage, in which they are prepared to engage in an investment. This stage can last days or even weeks.

Customized Relationships of Trust

Scammers also take cues from the victim, assessing what type of relationship they are after; companionship, relationship, or business deal, and adjusting and adapting the conversation accordingly. The potential victim is then heavily coached through screenshots about how to download trading apps, transfer funds, and buy or transfer funds into cryptocurrency. They are encouraged to invest more and more as time goes on, even getting loans and taking money out of their retirement plan to continue investing. The losses can be devastating and contribute to the “tidal wave of crypto investment fraud.”

This is how the typical correspondence starts (below).

5 Signs You’re Being Pig Butchered

With so much online communication happening these days, it can be hard to tell when one takes a turn for the worse. Here are ways to spot when your online “friendships” have an ulterior motive and may turn into pig butchering attacks.

1. Random text or email from someone you don’t know, engaging you in frequent conversation. Encouraging engagement in any type of conversation is a small win for scammers. This is a known scam technique. People like to be consistent and once you reply once, it will be harder to stop. Communication will be very frequent and may focus first on mundane things, like what you are doing, eating, or similar innocent activities. Frequent communication has been found to elevate emotional involvement.
2. Person you are communicating with refuses to talk on the phone. Scammers will avoid phone and video conversations. They will say their English is not good enough and may invent stories that give a good reason for not wanting to video call, e.g., their loved one died while driving and video calling someone. Or they may just ignore the request by distracting you and asking about other things.
3. Conversation quickly focuses on investment that is earning high returns for the person communicating with you. While talking about daily routines, the conversation quickly turns to high earnings the person is making by investing. The scammer may also boast about houses in several locations or mention other status symbols like nice cars, expensive holidays, or hired staff, such as a chauffeur, or personal assistant. They may or may not state they have secret inside trading info that assures risk-free wins. They will ask you if you want to try investing too, even offering free simulations so you can see how it works (which can be manipulated to look like big wins, so victims are reassured and persuaded to invest). The scammer may reassure you that you should not invest if you are nervous, or to start small, but after a small amount, which will likely result in a profit, you will be more likely to engage further.
4. Conversation is flirtatious and the person is praising you, but mostly when you are talking about investing. The person communicating is flirtatious with you, praising or complimenting you, or they may express the desire for a future with you. But these types of messages are more frequent when you are engaging in conversations about investments or promising to invest. At other times, when you try to talk about other things, conversations are short, and the person will tell you that they are busy. They may also threaten to stop communicating if you ask too many questions or if you request photos or video calls. You are made to feel like you must talk about the investment or follow their instructions to continue communicating with them.
5. Scammer is focusing your attention on the prize. This is a known scam technique – reminding potential victims what they could do with the winnings and how they can improve their lives. Also, if you invest a small amount because you are afraid of the risk, the scammer may focus your attention on how the win could have been more if you initially invested more. This technique works by evoking greed and desensitizing the potential victim to invest amounts they are uncomfortable losing.

Pig Butchering Scams: Beware the Best Friend You’ve Never Had

Pig butchering scams are very clever and combine several methods found in different types of scams. Rather than follow the exact script, the scammer tailors the scam based on the victim’s response and level of engagement, sometimes developing intense romantic relationships quickly or acting as a friend and confidante.

Their focus is to insert themselves in your daily life, keep earning your trust, and slowly introduce the idea of investing over time, until the victim is ready to invest. As such, this scam may not raise typical warning signs that come with typical investment scams, like being pressured to invest. Instead, they rely on priming that happens over time (slowly exposing you to an idea of investment to evoke compliance later on), which is often subconscious.

The best thing to do to avoid getting involved is to ignore any unsolicited messages, however innocent they sound. Investing in a Security Awareness Training (SAT) program can be one of the best ways to get this point across to your employees and train them to spot the telltale signs of social engineering before it’s too late.                          

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this guest author article are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect those of Tripwire, Inc.