woman meets a man online. They flirt. Then, after a few weeks, they begin imagining a future together. Fast forward a few months and one of them has had their heart broken and been defrauded of their life savings.
Analysis has identified 168 UK companies accused of running fraudulent cryptocurrency or foreign exchange trading schemes, with around half of these likely to be linked to pig-butchering scams. One resident of an east London tower block has been inundated with letters addressed to businesses and people he has never heard of.and refers to the process of slowly fattening a pig for slaughter. In pig-butchering scams, victims are groomed over a prolonged period to gain their trust.
More time passes, the conversation continues, and the trust builds. The victim might see a return on their initial investment, and is encouraged to transfer increasingly large amounts. The “pig” has been fed and fattened; now it can be butchered. They are persuaded to make another transfer involving a far greater amount of money. This time their funds – and the scammer – disappear.
More than a a year on, he is still struggling to come to terms with what happened. He is yet to get his money back and does not know if he ever will. He hasn’t told his family about the scam and went a year without seeing his close friends. As he tells his story, he repeatedly describes himself as “stupid”.
In February 2022, Toby*, 32, a UK victim of pig butchering, was defrauded out of £115,000 by a woman he met on the dating app Hinge. The day he realised what had happened they were due to have their first date – dinner at a restaurant in Ilford.