"Hacker Lexicon: What Is a Pig Butchering Scam?"

Criminals generate billions of dollars through Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks and romance scams. These attacks begin with social engineering to trick the victim into doing something that would benefit the threat actor, such as trusting someone they should not or sending money to an unverified entity. A new form of these schemes is known as "pig butchering," which traps unsuspecting victims to take their money. Pig butchering is now functioning on a global scale in large part due to the use of forced labor. Pig butchering scams are typically cryptocurrency schemes, but they can also involve other forms of financial trading. In a pig butchering scam, fraudsters initiate contact with victims via SMS or other social networking, dating, and communication platform. If the recipient responds that the attacker has the wrong number, the malicious actor tries to strike up a conversation and convince the victim that they have made a new friend. The attacker will convey the notion that they have been making money investing in cryptocurrencies and urge the target to consider participating. Next, the scammer gets the victim to install a malicious app or online platform that appears trustworthy. On the platform, victims can view curated real-time market data intended to show the investment's potential. Once the target deposits money into their "investment account," they can begin to observe their balance increase. Crafting malicious financial platforms to appear authentic and sophisticated is a trademark of pig butchering scams, as are other elements that add legitimacy, such as allowing victims to conduct video calls with their new "friend" or withdraw money. This article continues to discuss the idea behind pig butchering scams and efforts to stop them. 

Wired reports "Hacker Lexicon: What Is a Pig Butchering Scam?"