If you’ve been a victim or know a victim, please contact us and we will try to assist - [email protected]

Table of Contents

• How to Spot a Pig Butchering Romance Scam

  • Step 1 - Text from a Stranger - Mistaken Identity

  • Step 2 - Ask Questions

  • Step 3 - Establish Trust & Humanize the Scammer

  • Step 4 - Deepen Trust Through Flattery

  • Step 5 - Switch Platforms

How to Spot a Pig Butchering Romance Scam

For definition purposes, the romance scam is a type of scam where romantic gestures or conversations are involved. Pig butchering scams are a category of scams that define the strategy or timeline. Pig butchering scams play out over weeks, even months until you have lost all of your money.

Every day, thousands of people receive a text from a stranger. These texts are written by professional scammers with one thing in mind - steal your money.

Educate yourself on the signs and share these tips with your friends and family.

Step 1 - Text from a Stranger - Mistaken Identity

These texts play on your curiosity and your heartstrings. Many start as a romance scam and turn into a pig butchering nightmare. Here’s how to spot them based on a text exchange I received today.

This is the cold introduction. The scammer is trying to get you to respond by making it seem like it is a text message sent to the wrong person.

The instant mistake they made was their grammar: “Let’s go have lunch with me” is not grammatically correct. This scammer is a non-English speaker - likely from Asia or Nigeria.

When I respond, the scam begins. This scammer apologizes, references another person’s name, and plays to your kindness with “I hope I don’t offend you.”

Step 2 - Ask Questions

Next, the scammer asks a couple of basic questions to establish a rapport. Here, the scammer asks for my name. Next, the scammer states their location to lay the foundation of trust by stating a major US city.

After the initial questions are out of the way, the scammer adds a photo to get me intrigued. Typically, the scammers use real and/or AI-generated photos of beautiful women.

Step 3 - Establish Trust & Humanize the Scammer

Now, the scammer needs to quickly establish trust.

They have sent a photo, and now they share more personal information by sharing their age. Now, they ask another question to prompt a conversation. Emojis are added, which is very common as a way to humanize the scammer.

I didn’t respond right away, which forced the scammer to go through their playbook and ask another question to keep the conversation going.

Step 4 - Deepen Trust Through Flattery

I responded after the scammer followed up. This led to the scammer quickly asking for me to share a photo. The scammer knows it’s an important part of developing trust. So, I googled “old man” and this photo showed up on the first page of the results.

Boom! The scammer quickly flatters me and adds the emoji with hearts. Then back to questions. That is important.

The scammer quickly makes it clear that age doesn’t matter to feign interest. From there, they try to stir up intrigue again by asking, “Have you ever chatted with an Asian girl?” This is a new question that I haven’t seen before.

The scammer states they want to switch from a business line to a personal line as a way to imply a romantic future.

Step 5 - Switch Platforms

Now that the hook is set, it’s time to reel the victim in by switching platforms from text messaging to an alternative. Typically, it will be WhatsApp but some scammers use Telegram.

The scammer shares their number and sends a romantic emoji - blowing a kiss.

When I don’t follow up quickly, the scammer finds my number on WhatsApp and sends me an invitation.

From here, the scammer will begin to message me at least once per day to deepen the trust before turning the conversation to crypto or gift cards.

This scam is very popular because it works. These scammers send out thousands of these per day.

I recommend never answering phone calls or text messages from unknown numbers. The odds are not in our favor.

If for any reason, you suspect that you or a loved one is caught in a romance scam or pig butchering scam, please feel free to reach out to me.