Stop worrying about Skynet and start worrying about Pignet. Scammers have been expanding their use of tools that can hack into accounts and make off with cryptocurrency or currency.
So-called “pig butchering” scams are a type of online investment fraud that involving scammers that create fake online personas to lure victims into their fraudulent investment schemes. The term pig butchering refers to the practice of “fattening up” victims by building trust over time before ultimately “slaughtering” them and making off with their money.
The Pig Butchering Playbook
- Scammers first create their phony online identity. This may be a good-looking, single wealthy investor, depending upon whether the vehicle used is a dating app or social media. The intended appeal is to the interests of the victims, while also exploiting their vulnerabilities. The photo and profile will either have been stolen or AI-generated, and the back-stories will be carefully and cleverly crafted.
- Contact is first made using scripts and messages intended to assess the victim’s receptiveness. To make the venture lucrative, many contacts are made.
- A period of weeks or even months pass as the relationship comes together nicely, and that may include a romantic interest. Sophisticated “mirroring” techniques enable the scammers to align closely with the victim’s language, interests, and opinions to create and foster connection, familiarity, and trust.
- Once trust has clearly been made, the scammer turns the conversation to their “investment” pitch. That can be gold, foreign currency exchange, or cryptocurrency They hold themselves out to be knowledgeable and experienced investors who only want to help the victim get started and later succeed.
- The scammer then seeks to get the victim to download an investment app or to visit a fraudulent investment platform. They explain how it will work, create an account, and accept the initial deposit. The most clever and sophisticated among the scammers is to allow the victim to withdraw money or have the “investment” appear to have made money over time. This is done to get the victim to pour in more and more money over time. Monthly statements such as the ones notorious fraudster Bernie Madoff had used, appear to be “proof” of the veracity and investment success of the “venture.”
- In due course, when as much money as possible has been extracted, communication is then suddenly cut and the scammer disappears quietly and completely. In the worst cases, the information gleaned can then be leveraged into identity theft or perhaps target the victim’s friends and family.
