ORLANDO, Fla. – Americans lost more than $1.3 billion last year to romance imposters who employed a tactic that federal agents call “Pig Butchering.”
“Pig Butchering is a terrible term,” IRS acting special agent in charge Tara Reed told News 6. “It’s basically the concept of fattening a pig before slaughter.”
That “fattening” is basically a tactic by conmen who establish trust, friendship and eventually love on various social media platforms.
“The victim is contacted out of the blue,” Reed said, “Sometimes on social media platforms, oftentimes on dating sites or platforms like WhatsApp.”
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In 2022, News 6 viewer Mary Miller admitted she lost $10,000 to a conman who claimed he was working on an oil drilling rig.
The social media messages spoke of love and romance, but of course it was all a brand of “Pig Butchering.”
“I’m ashamed and embarrassed,” Miller told News 6. “I was so in love.”
Miller was told to take $10,000 in cash to an ATM bitcoin hub and transfer the funds to a digital account after the man said he needed the money and would pay her back.
Of course, Miller was never able to recover the money.
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In 2022, the FTC collected data from 70,000 reported romance scam cases.
According to the IRS, victims lose anywhere from $4,500 to $2 million in various bitcoin-cryptocurrency romance-investment schemes.
Each case is built on stolen photographs. In fact, victims never actually meet their romantic interest face to face.
“The picture that you develop an emotional attachment to is not the person you are communicating with,” Reed warned. ”We find that the most vulnerable population is middle aged to elderly individuals.”
If you think you are the victim of a crypto romance or investment scheme. email makeendsmeet@wkmg.com or text the words “make ends meet” to 407-676-7428 along with your contact information and the circumstances.
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