What is Pig Butchering?

Pig butchering is a patient, manipulative scam named, disturbingly, for fattening a victim before the slaughter. Scammers make contact, often through a wrong-number text, social media, or a dating app, and build a friendship or romance over weeks. Then they introduce a “can’t-lose” crypto investment on a fake platform, show fake profits to encourage bigger deposits, and eventually take it all.

This matters because these scams are emotionally sophisticated and cost victims life-changing sums. The manipulation targets trust and loneliness, not technical naivety.

Example: a friendly stranger who has been chatting with you for a month mentions a special trading platform where they have made great returns, then walks you through depositing crypto that you can never actually withdraw.

Safety note: be deeply skeptical of any investment introduced by someone you met online, especially if it involves an app or website they recommend and promises consistent profits. Real platforms are not pitched by new online friends. Withdrawals that require paying “taxes” or “fees” first are proof of fraud. Never send crypto to a platform a stranger steered you to. Related terms include advance-fee scam, recovery scam, social engineering, and impersonation scam.