Pig Butchering Scam

Pig butchering (from the Chinese sha zhu pan) is industrialized investment fraud: a stranger builds a warm relationship over weeks — wrong-number texts, dating apps — then introduces a crypto “opportunity” on a polished but fake platform. Early small withdrawals work; the fattened victim then deposits big, and withdrawal suddenly requires taxes, fees, unlocks — each payment feeding the scam until the victim is drained.

Run from scam compounds (often staffed by trafficked workers), these operations steal billions annually and are 2026’s most damaging consumer crypto crime. The immunization is absolute: anyone you’ve never met in person who steers conversation toward investing is a scammer — and “recovery agents” who contact victims afterwards are round two. More patterns in our scam red-flags guide.