Pig butchering scam

A pig butchering scam (Chinese: 杀猪盘, sha zhu pan or shazhupan, translated as the killing pig game) is a type of online scam where the victim is encouraged to make increasing financial contributions over a long period, usually in the form of cryptocurrency. Such scams are commonplace on social media and dating apps, and often involve elements of catfishing, investment fraud and romance scams. The scammer builds trust with the victim through online communication, subsequently persuading them to invest in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. The "butchering" or "slaughtering" of the victim transpires when their assets or funds are stolen. Perpetrators are typically victims of a fraud factory, where they are lured to travel internationally under false pretenses, trafficked to another location, and forced to commit the fraud by organised crime gangs.

Contact begins with unsolicited telephone calls with extended or repeated contact, fake profiles on dating apps, or romantic interest from strangers, all with requests for personal information with the view to financially profile the target. After gaining the victim's trust, the scammer offers too-good-to-be-true rates of return on trades or investments using genuine-looking but fraudulent websites or apps. The scammer may pressure the victim to invest quickly, offer extravagant gifts which require the release of money, claim difficulties in withdrawing funds from supposed investment returns, and give inconsistent or vague details about the investment. A scammer will often try to isolate their victim by monopolizing their attention away from loved ones, who may otherwise realise the victim is falling prey to a scam.

Scams can be detected using simple precautions. To avoid being scammed, conduct due diligence and verify the identity of the fake persona, such as by asking for their long-used legitimate LinkedIn and Facebook accounts with their verifiable family and colleagues in their social network. Scammers get angry and abusive when pressed for verifiable details for them or their investments scams. To avoid being detected, scammers also often avoid giving out their WhatsApp number, and prefer apps where their phone number is hidden such as Telegram or WeChat. Many scammers obtain their own WhatsApp-linked fraudulent phone number through a burner phone, virtual number, phone number mule, or caller ID spoofing, and then avoid videocall verification. Potential victims should insist on multiple, long videocalls to verify the identity of the potential scammer, confirm the identity of mentioned companies with registration and regulatory bodies, never invest in any scheme through people met online but not in person, cut off contact with potential scammers and their platforms, and immediately alert local, state, or federal authorities and loved ones. Legitimate opportunities rarely require rushed decisions.

In 2024, crypto fraud was estimated to have had a value of US$12.4 billion, of which high-yield investment program (HYIP) scams and pig butchering scams contributed 50.2% and 33.2% respectively, with pig butchering scams growing at the rapid rate of 40% over the previous year. In October 2023, 12% of Americans using dating apps experienced exposure to this type of fraud, up from 5% in 2018. The scam originated in China in 2016 or earlier, and proliferated in Southeast Asia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.