Have you ever received offers that seem too good to be true on Meta platforms? Everyone sees the posts and receives messages, about making crypto through trading or investing packages. These scams are known as Pig Butchering – the process of feeding up victims with romantic talks and relationships before leading them to a potential financial slaughter. Read this guide to know how scammers trap innocent individuals and what steps Meta takes to protect their 3 Billion user community.
What is Pig Butchering
A pig butchering is a romantic or too-good-to-be-true project crypto trap. Pig butchers called their victims pigs, and they were fed up with being butchered or scammed out of as much money as possible. Simply put, it is a long-term scam and investment fraud in which the victim slowly becomes interested in making transactions, usually in the form of cryptocurrencies, to a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. These scams are usually conducted through social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp.
The scammer contacts their target through posts or cold messages and presents offers that are too good to be true. The scammer connects with the victim and builds sweet friendships or relationships to gain the target’s complete trust. Once the target trusts the scammer, they decide to invest in cryptocurrency schemes to earn passive income and live the life they want.
How Does Pig Butchering Works
Pig butchering involves many tactics and variations. The main aim is to steal as much money as possible from innocent people. Most victims of fraudulent activity are connected through social media, dating apps, and sites. The culprit is always an attractive person of the opposite gender. The luxurious lifestyle photos and information used to manipulate victims are completely bogus.
Initially, the conversations are ordinary and sweet, based on the victim’s interest without any clue of an investment opportunity. During this period, the scammer is trying to build trust and attraction. The scam’s success is typically based on the scammer’s ability to achieve their purposes.
After some time, the conversation turns to passive income through cryptocurrency investment. The scammer will claim to be a successful trader and tell you about their recent large gains. Usually, they share screenshots of the bank deposit or crypto wallets. Then, they casually offer to teach the victim how to make money in the crypto scheme.
Should the victim be ready to invest, they will be asked to sign up on a particular cryptocurrency exchange and make a deposit. The victim will then be able to see as their small investment increases in value.
It is a piece of cake for the scammer to achieve because the exchange is fake. The fake websites are designed to be highly proficient and realistic, but the profits displayed are dummy and nonexistent. However, at the start of the pig butchering scam, the victim receives small withdrawals because it gains trust and credibility on the site and the trader.
Now, the victim is ready to invest a more significant amount. Due to the romantic trap and the evidence of last profits, the victim is typically convinced to invest large amounts. When the victim attempts to withdraw large quantities, they will initially be told to pay taxes on their profits. Victims are only able to make a withdrawal when they pay taxes or clearance fees. Whether the victim makes a deposit or not, the profits are just figures on the fraudulent site, and anything they invest can never be credited to their wallets.
Which Platforms Commonly Used in Pig Butchering
Most commonly scammers use social media apps to target their victims. The most used sites are Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other dating sites. Scammers make fake profiles and posts about how much money they earn through a single platform. They used many tricks to trap innocent individuals through, cold messages, love bombing, manipulation, or sweet gestures. The most used platforms for scams are Meta Platforms.
Meta receives a heap of complaints regularly. Most of the people report to Meta about their recent pig butchering scam. Meta warned users whenever people get connected with new individuals and try to talk about investment schemes or any other way in which money transactions are included. Meta has more than 3 Billion users and the simple caution message is not enough for people to protect their funds and mental health.
Meta Suspend 2 Million Accounts over Pig Butchering Scams
Meta announced that it has suspended 2 million accounts all over the platforms since the start of the year that are linked to any type of pig butchering and other online scams. Most of the scammers’ accounts belonged to Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Cambodia, and the United Arab Emirates, which is infamous for hosting scam slave operations.
Meta explains that these illegal scam hubs attract unsuspecting job seekers with great job opportunities on local job boards, forums, and recruitment platforms to then force people to work as online scammers often under the threat of physical abuse.
The main type of scam carried out by these accounts is pig butchering, an especially damaging financial investment fraud depending on long-term manipulation and advanced double-gaming tactics. Meta suspended these accounts from its platforms and collaborated with law enforcement agencies in those countries to share intelligence to reduce the scam operations at all costs.
How to Protect Yourself from Pig Butchering Scams
Pig butchering scams are becoming more common and advanced, making it easier for criminals to target unsuspecting victims. These scams have first emerged in China, and involve scammers getting a victim’s trust via social media and dating apps. Eventually, they convince victims to invest in fake cryptocurrency sites.
Nowadays, the latest version of this scam, known as DeFi savings, is particularly deceitful. It uses authorized crypto wallet apps to seem trustworthy, fooling victims into visiting fake websites. Once the victim enters their information, scammers gain access to their funds. These pig butchering scam kits are now sold on the dark web with complete tools to connect to blockchain networks and even built-in chat support to encourage professionalism.
Final Verdict
Nowadays, pig butchering is everywhere on any social media platform or dating platform. You don’t know the intention of the person who contacts you through any social media app or dating app. So be aware, stay vigilant, and never trust anyone who offers any type of money-making deal that seems too good to be true!