Pig Butchering Scams: The Romance First, Next Comes The Investment Trap

At first it feels harmless, a normal chat with a beautiful/handsome person that draws your attention.

Most times you meet on a social app or dating websites, maybe facebook, telegram, instagram etc. The conversation feels great and natural, after a while it becomes very comforting. They ask about your day like they care but they actually remember very little details about your life. The goal is to become a part of your routine.

After a short while of comfortable conversations, chats in the mornings, afternoons and nights, the topic of money appears.

They start to draw your attention towards financial freedom based on what they have noticed about your life, next is them introducing crypto trading, forex trading, online gold and real estate investments and stocks. In some cases they claim to work in finance and have insider knowledge of what is being invested in.

This right here is what is known as a PIG BUTCHERING GAME.

The idea behind the name is victims are emotionally fattened up over weeks or months before the financial draining begins and a lot of people are falling for these lately.

One thing i noticed is, victims of such scams may feel foolish, careless or stupid for falling but this is something that mainly attracts very intelligent people so don't beat yourself about it, you are intelligent but we are humans and we would always be prone to mistakes sometimes, the most important thing is to learn from it. There have been victims from different specialty fields like doctors, big business owners, veterans, tech gurus, and even people who have vast knowledge on cryptocurrency.

The Impersonator does not immediately ask for money. Instead, they create emotional comfort with the victim so when the investment talks/opportunity talks start, the emotional bond and trust is already there.

They make use of fake platforms that look real and most victims experienced almost the same things;

Trading website looking professional

Account dashboard showing profits coming in daily

withdrawal of small amounts works

customer service team responding quickly

everything looking professional and legitimate.

Behind the scenes, these investment platforms are completely controlled platforms designed to stimulate profits while pushing for larger investment deposits.

Once the victim then tries to withdraw a large amount from his account, thats when the problem begins.

You experience issues like them requesting;

Tax payments

Account verification fees

Anti money laundering deposits

Clearance payments

Always one thing to another, excuses with request for money till the victim has nothing left.

Lately there has been a rise in a second game play that follows up:

Some of these companies circle back with a different scheme to attract the victims.

Once victims posts online seeking help or join groups/forums, they start receiving random messages from so called "retrieval teams, fund retrieval teams, fake helpers, or anonymous fake agents promising guaranteed results.

Majority of such are Fake imposters targeting victims, i would advice victims to be careful and not engage with such people who come to you.

Luckily some victims have experienced actually getting their money back.

Most times people assume it is impossible to get the funds back but in some cases it has been possible, i think it has to do with meeting the right set of team/company() who can help and also being lucky but i have had close contact with victims who were lucky to get theirs back.

This depends majorly on several factors like timing, exchange activity, wallet movement, transaction footprints/trails and digital evidence.

Many people assume cryptocurrency transactions are untraceable but investigators and companies who specialise in blockchain analysis often look for patterns, footprints, movement histories, linked wallets, and exchange interaction connected to the fake investment network.

I think the best thing to do first is avoid panicking and making panic decisions.

Steps i think you should take if you suspect you're being played.

Firstly pause immediately, avoid sending any extra funds out of fear or emotional pressure, take screenshots, save wallet addresses, documents usernames, phone numbers, emails, transaction IDs, and conversations.

Those details always come in handy during investigation which may help in getting back your money if that offer is on the table.

Rounding up, I think pig butchering games are worse because they don't just steal your money, they steal your trust, time and emotions leaving the victim in shame making most victims hide and not talk or share/report their experience. My advise today is to be bold, feel free to share your experience, go after help or atleast warn others to avoid falling victims.