In recent months, a fraudulent investment scam known as the 'Pig Butchering Scam' has emerged, particularly on the Asian continent. It is said that this scam originated in China but has become a global threat in recent years.
The name of this type of scam comes from the concept of 'fattening the pig before slaughtering it,' which means that the scammer will establish a solid relationship with the victim for weeks or even months before executing any scam. Typically, the pig butchering scam starts with friendly, casual conversations, and then the scammer will proactively shift the topic towards the victim, encouraging them to invest money into an investment project usually controlled by the scammer, from which they will steal funds.
Increase in pig butchering scams, increase in victims
A recent case involves 44-year-old Ahmet Tozal, who works in clothing manufacturing in Istanbul, Turkey. In recent months, Tozal fell victim to a pig butchering scam where he applied for three credit card loans and withdrew his life savings in an attempt to get rich through digital assets. He said that in 2023, a new friend contacted him via WhatsApp and encouraged him to try this industry, as it could bring him significant income.
According to Tozal, he met the woman on WhatsApp in 2023 when she accidentally sent him a message. Tozal said she claimed to have gotten his number by mistake, but she was very friendly and interested in learning about Turkey. She told him that she was a wealthy businesswoman planning to visit Turkey soon. Tozal mentioned that during their chat, she had sent him her photos.
He noted that she claimed to be a young woman traveling around the world and attending important global conferences. Tozal also added that they had a video call that lasted only a few seconds. Eventually, she suggested that he try cryptocurrency, promising that it would be a gold mine that could make him rich and change his life. Their conversation trajectory showed signs of a pig butchering scam, but Tozal did not recognize these signs.
Tozal said that in the coming weeks, she persuaded him to invest about 400,000 Turkish lira (approximately $9,600) — equivalent to his annual salary — into a new cryptocurrency called UAI Coin. At that time, Tozal did not know that this cryptocurrency did not exist at all, and the woman had executed a perfect pig butchering scam on him. 'Every time I think about it, I go crazy,' he said.
A study conducted by the University of Texas in 2024 showed that since 2020, losses from pig butchering scams have exceeded $75 billion. The CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank in Kansas once used $47 million in company cash for a similar scam, leading to the company's bankruptcy, making it one of the largest fraud cases in the United States. In such cases, it is nearly impossible to recover funds stolen by criminals.
Like Tozal, many people around the world have been deceived by these pig butchering scams, and most are unwilling to disclose their identities for fear of reputational damage. Some have said they were lured into falling in love after a chance chat with an acquaintance on WhatsApp, leading to even greater financial losses, only to realize later that it was a scam. Additionally, most of them seized the opportunity to invest in the fake UAI digital asset that promised to change their lives.
