Pig butchering scam.
In plain English
A pig butchering scam is a patient, relationship-based investment fraud. A stranger reaches out, often by a wrong-number text or on social media or a dating app, and builds friendship or romance over weeks or months before introducing a can't-lose investment, usually in crypto, on a fake platform that shows growing fake profits. The name refers to fattening the victim with trust and small apparent wins before the loss. When the victim tries to withdraw, they are told to pay taxes or fees, and the money and the scammer vanish. These are often run by organized operations, and being targeted reflects their reach, not the victim's judgment.
01Why it matters
Pig butchering scams cause some of the largest individual losses because they patiently build real trust first, so knowing the pattern, a new contact steering you to an investment platform, is the strongest early warning.
02The math, step by step
A friendly stranger texts what looks like a wrong number, chats warmly for weeks, then mentions an investment app where they are doing well and offers to help you start. The app shows your balance climbing, but when you try to cash out, new fees appear and the money is gone. The slow trust-building is the scam's engine.
03What this is NOT
It is not a real relationship or a real opportunity. The connection is manufactured to set up the investment, and the profits shown are fake. A new contact who moves toward getting you onto an investment platform is the defining red flag.
04Receipts
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