Authored by: @hetty-rowan

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# Pig Butchering Scam

Last week I was reading an **[article](https://peakd.com/scam/@eco-alex/scam-alert-its-official-wwwoxbiexcom-is-a-total-scam)** written by @eco-alex, and I felt so deeply for him. Shortly before that I had read from @belemo that his metamask had been hacked, and I felt horrified with him about that too. It hurts! I can't make anything else out of it. And yes, I´m speaking from experience with this way of losing funds, unfortunately! It just hurts so much, to lose what you worked so hard for. Nobody asks for this, and it shouldn't happen to anyone. But unfortunately, it is happening on an increasing scale every day.

Where Belemo's Metamask was hacked and all his funds have disappeared to other wallets, it happened in a completely different way with Alex. A way that is perhaps even more painful. 

But it is certainly a way that has been happening more and more lately. And that is precisely why I wanted to draw attention to it here, so that we are all aware of it, and not let it surprise us anymore. Because what's happening here is actually a double attack. Both on your emotions and on your finances.

What am I talking about here? About the so-called;

# Pig Butchering Scam!
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# What is the Pig Butchering Scam?
Pig butchering scam, also known as **Sha Zhu Pan** in Chinese, is a method of fraud that originated in Asia, in which users of dating apps are tricked into participating in various types of fraudulent investments such as financial investments and investments, gambling games, and other types of fake investments. Recently, crypto fraud has also been added.

This form of fraud owes its name to the sophisticated way in which the scammers fatten their victims – 'the pigs' – so to speak. Unlike traditional dating fraud that often targets middle-aged divorced people, this online fraud mainly targets younger people interested in technology and crypto.

The scammers follow a pre-rehearsed plan. They create an account on a dating app and often pretend to be rich, handsome and interested. In this way they try to gain trust. This phase is also compared to the fattening of pigs. When a certain level of emotional base is reached, the scammers will try to entice their victim into investing. The last phase of this fraud revolves around collecting, in which an attempt is made to take as much money as possible from the victim, i.e. the slaughter of the pig.

# What should you pay attention to?
A number of elements that are often used in pig butchering scams can be distilled from victims' stories.

It all starts on a dating app, such as Tinder. After a match, the scammer builds a (romantic) relationship with the victim within a few weeks. A decoy technique is first used, after which the victim is persuaded to invest in crypto.
 
# The lure technique
In order to gain the trust of the victim, a close bond is built in a short time. This includes the following patterns:
- You are greeted every day with 'good morning' and 'good night'.
- The scammer shares photos of his/her food. This "home-cooked" food looks like it came straight out of a restaurant.
- The scammer is the owner of a thriving business.
- There is casual talk of spending tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars as if it were nothing (it makes you feel small).
- Usually in the 2nd/3rd week of the contact, an investment or trading platform is put forward.
- The scammer has studied finance and has an uncle/aunt/brother/professor who taught him/her how to invest.
- At one point you will be asked what your material goals and dreams are, and then it will be said that you are not dreaming big enough.
- The scammer pretends that he/she has a lot of experience in trading, and knows exactly when is a good time to get in or out.
- Also jokes are made about how 'small' your investment is, it would supposedly be too small to be able to make an investment plan for you.
- When an event leads to large losses, he/she suggests that you borrow money while trading (margin trading) to make up for it quickly.
- When you are supposedly forced by the platform to pay high amounts, the scammer offers very nicely to 'help' you, for example by paying half for you. However, you never see their money, because they pay directly into your 'account'.
- The scammer also quickly makes you feel guilty when it comes to money.
- Finally, it is noticeable that the scammer always has an excuse not to meet in real life. Think of corona, bad experiences with exes, etc. In real life they can't meet you, because they are not where you think they are.

However, calls are often made or even video calls are made. It is important here that the scammer's number is diverted to a local number. An even trickier trick is used for video calling; many scammers use deep fake technology for this. Images are then composed on the basis of artificial intelligence, making it possible to switch the face of the scammer with that of another and it seems as if you are video calling the scammer, but this is not his real face.

If there are some of these elements, there is of course not much to it. But especially if you come across several of these elements together, you better be alert.
 
# The scam method
The next stage is convincing the victim to invest money in crypto. Once a lot of money has been transferred, the scammer will run off with the money, and leaves you to find out that it was not about love but a scam. This includes the following elements:

- One characteristic is that the scammer is very active, very helpful and quick to respond, especially when it comes to investing. He/she is literally there for you 24/7.
- When you make your first investment, you still have access to your account, so you can easily add and withdraw money.
- The scammer often offers high bonuses if you quickly invest 30-100% more by a certain date (for example, next weekend).
- Once you've invested significant amounts of money, the slaughter begins! You suddenly no longer manage to withdraw your money from your account.
- The scammer then claims that you must pay high taxes, reservations or verification fees before you can access the money in your account.
- The scammer also often makes excuses if your account is 'frozen', because, for example, you did not go through the verification process (properly). According to the scammer, you must transfer money as soon as possible, otherwise a certain percentage of your investment will be deducted.
- This also often involves blackmail, for example with sexually tinted photos that you previously sent to the scammer.
- The moment you send large amounts, you will be told that you sent it to the wrong address. The scammer or 'customer service' will then 'help' you by saying, for example, that unfortunately your money could not be found, but that you only have to pay 70% of the remaining balance. This way you transfer a large amount again!
- Even if you pay everything that is asked for, the scammer will keep coming up with reasons to transfer even more money.

# Large-scale organization
In summary, this form of fraud involves a well-organized plan, in which everything proceeds in advance according to a rehearsed script that is tailored to your stereotype. Whether you're still a student, looking for a job, or maybe you've been working for several years, have certain hobbies, a certain family background, ... they have scripts for everything that are finished to be able to scam you.

This is a fairly large-scale organization with various branches, where everyone has their own division of tasks: managing ICT, people who make money available, and the scammers who look for victims and rob their money. These people all receive special training for these activities.

# Who's Behind the Pig Butchering Scam?
The pig butchering scam was first reported in China in early 2010, but this fraud spread especially quickly after 2018 when many people became interested in online gambling and traded on exchanges in Asia. As of summer 2021, cases have also been reported in North America and Europe.

A Taiwanese victim of the pig butchering scam founded the Global Anti Scam Organization Org (GASO) in 2019. The GASO aims to expose the scammers behind the pig butchering scam and to help victims, for example by preventing them from paying even more money.

According to GASO, the scammers are operating from Asian countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar, and are mainly run by Chinese criminals and sometimes by Taiwanese criminals. Those behind it have also been found to engage in other crimes, such as labor exploitation and human trafficking, in which people are forced to work under poor conditions in call centers for the pig butchering scam, an investigation found. These people were forced to create fake profiles on dating apps and social media and search for victims and entice them to invest in crypto.

Such criminal workplaces have already been tracked down and closed several times by the Chinese authorities. Now that this fraud has spread to the rest of the world, investigation and prosecution is becoming more difficult for the authorities, because many governments do not properly deal with cross-border cybercrime. This reduces the chance that scammers will be caught and they can therefore continue with these practices.

# Conclusion
The pig butchering scam is a new form of crypto fraud that combines dating fraud and investment fraud. This fraud originates from China and encourages victims to invest in crypto after a relationship of trust has been established. At first it concerns small amounts, but because all kinds of cunning tricks are devised, you lose more and more money. In the end, the scammer will run off with your money. Victims have been reported from all over the world.

The lesson from this blog is that you should be careful with online dating and crypto. And of course, 

# Always Do Your Own Research if you want to invest.

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