Pig Butchering - Rock bottom financially and emotionally

We all know those Facebook ads with a celebrity promoting an investment platform that promises huge returns. Who doesn't want to get rich overnight? You’re probably already increasingly aware not to get conned by these investment scams.

But what if it is your partner who suggests you should invest? You fully trust this person and your soulmate has already made a lot of money this way, so what could go wrong?

How does Pig Butchering work?

Your new love often appears in your life via dating apps or a WhatsApp message that has apparently been delivered incorrectly. You are quickly enchanted with lots of sweet messages and an apparent genuine interest. In the beginning, the bond of trust is carefully built, this can sometimes take even months. Then your online loved one starts talking about successful investments, often in combination with cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. You are gently lured in and start investing small amounts with the help of your significant other. To gain your trust, they make it easy if you also want to withdraw some of your profit, to test if this is not a scam. You trust the platform and you are investing more and more, the profits are amazing! Your stake has already tripled! Your loved one advises you to invest increasingly larger amounts, if necessary even to take out a loan for it. Creating this fortune together and then planning a wonderful holiday to a tropical destination, this is the life you dreamed of!
But that’s when things begin to change, both in terms of love and financially. You want to withdraw your profits, but it turns out that there are costs involved. For example, taxes that have to be paid first or fines because the threshold amount has not yet been reached. Your loved one is also suddenly less available and eventually no longer responds at all. The website of the investment platform has gone offline. The truth hits you, you’re in serious trouble.

Where does Pig Butchering originate from?

Pig Butchering is a form of fraud in which the scammer invests a lot of time in building a relationship of trust with the victim. The term was first used in 2016 in China (杀猪盘, Sha Zu Pan) for this type of fraud in which the pig (the derogatory term for the victim) is first "fattened" before being slaughtered. Dating or romance scams are other terms that are often used. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this type of scam has spread very rapidly. Meeting new people was not possible anyway, so this was an excellent opportunity to manipulate victims online.

You got scammed, now what?

If you got scammed, it is often not something you talk about easily. The impact of such a scam is much bigger than just a financial loss. Victims are not only left behind with an enormous debt, but also loose their trust in other people because they have been manipulated in such a direct way. The step to report the scam to the police is often taken late or not at all. Yet this is a very important step, to get more insight into this type of crime and eventually better prevent it. If the police will take on your case, they can investigate who the fraudster behind the scam and follow the money to locate the stolen funds.

How can DataExpert help?
Did you know that DataExpert can also investigate for you where the money has gone? We regularly work with a Dutch lawyer who provides legal assistance to victims in a civil procedure, to get financial compensation for the losses. DataExpert works with internationally recognized, specialist blockchain analytics software. We are a certified investigation agency. Our investigators are certified at the highest level for blockchain analysis tooling and also in anti-money laundering. In addition, the investigators have many years of experience in detecting and combating financial crime. As a result, we deliver tracing reports that meet the highest quality standards, and are accepted as evidence in court. Our track record includes several legal successes, that we are quite proud of!

Did you get scammed and did you pay with crypto? Does your law firm represent clients who have been scammed and paid with cryptocurrency? Please feel free to contact us at crypto@dataexpert.nl.