Pig Butchering Is Coming for You and Your Money

Pig butchering scams are a type of online investment fraud. weerapatkiatdumrong/iStock

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

1. 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.
2. Contact is first made using scripts and messages intended to assess the victim’s receptiveness. To make the venture lucrative, many contacts are made.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.”
6. 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.

Supercharging Social Engineering

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) issued a report just last week, warning about the recent rapidly growing criminal ecosystem.

Many of the digital scams rely on social engineering. That means manipulating victims into giving their money willingly, as opposed to leaning on malware or other methods.

Researchers are now alerting us that scammers are incorporating generative AI content and deepfakes to expand their scale and operational effectiveness.

Since scammers can be constrained by their language skills and their ability to keep up ongoing conversations with perhaps hundreds of victims at any given time, this limits the volume they can handle.

But generative AI developments these past few years (writing tools such as ChatGPT) are making it easy for criminals to eliminate language barriers and create the content needed for their scams—at high volume.

The U.N. report goes on to say that AI is used for automating phishing attacks, creating fake identities and online profiles, developing personalized scripts to trick their victims while messaging them in almost any language.

“These developments have not only expanded the scope and efficiency of cyber-enabled fraud and cybercrime, but they have also lowered the barriers to entry for criminal networks that previously lacked the technical skills to exploit sophisticated and profitable methods,” the report says.

Perhaps the most significant AI shift in digital attacks comes from so-called “deepfakes.” Scammers are using machine-learning systems to facilitate real-time face-swapping. This technology allows criminals to change their appearances on calls with victims, making them appear to be a different person. The technology is allowing “one-click” face swaps and high-resolution video feeds, the U.N. report states. These then allow attackers to “prove” they are who they claim to be.

How to Avoid the Pig Butcher’s Chopping Block

1. Common sense. You should trust your first impression and your instincts—be overly cautious when someone shows excessive interest in you.
2. Don’t share personal sensitive information with people you don’t know or barely know. Nothing. None of it. Nada.
3. Immediately block suspicious individuals, whether emails, texts, or phone calls.
4. A healthy skepticism when encountering unsolicited messages from strangers is a healthy online lifestyle.
5. Educate yourself about scam tactics and stay up to date. The new generation AI-related scams have taken fraud to an entirely new level, requiring all of us to do our research before trading or investing.

The Epoch Times copyright © 2024. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.