Pig butchering scams: the investment arc, stage by stage

"Pig butchering" is the name widely used for investment scams that start as a friendship or a romance. INTERPOL asked in December 2024 for it to be replaced by "romance baiting", because the older name shames the people it happens to. Flggd treats it as the investment arc of financial grooming.

What this is

Someone you met by chance becomes a friend. After a while they mention trading, usually crypto, and how well it has gone for them. They offer to show you. The platform they send you to looks professional, your balance rises, and a first small withdrawal works. None of it is real. The balance is a number on a screen, and the money you sent went to the people running it.

Stage by stage

1. The friendship. Weeks of conversation before any mention of money.

2. The tip. They show you their profits and offer to teach you.

3. The platform. A website or app they send you to, not one you found yourself.

4. The test. A small deposit, a quick profit, and a withdrawal that works.

5. The push. Bigger deposits, a "limited" opportunity, sometimes a loan or your savings.

6. The wall. You try to withdraw and are told to pay a tax, a fee or a verification deposit first.

7. The second round. A "recovery service" or "investigator" offers to get it back for a fee.

Where you are now

Did you find the platform yourself, or were you sent a link? Could you withdraw everything today without paying anything first? Is the firm on the regulator's register: FINRA BrokerCheck in the US, the FCA register in the UK, ASIC in Australia? Has anyone coached you on what to say to your bank? If you cannot answer the first two in your favour, treat it as a scam.

What to do at each stage

• Before you deposit: stop, and do not send anything to a platform someone else chose for you.

• If you have deposited: stop sending more, call your bank now, and keep every message, address and transaction record.

• If you cannot withdraw: do not pay to release it. The fee is the next stage of the same scam.

• If someone offers recovery for a fee: that is a scam.