‘Pig butchering’ scammers target BBC reporter - BBC World Service

It started with a direct message on Instagram. Jessica was an attractive 36-year-old woman looking for romance.

The BBC’s Cyber correspondent Joe Tidy suspected it was a scam but wasn’t sure what kind. In the end, "Jessica’" turned out to be a "pig butchering" scammer.

These fraudsters refer to their victims as pigs, whom they fatten up to be "butchered" or conned, out of as much money as possible.

Knowing the profile for "Jessica" was fake, the reporter played along for more than two months to find out what psychological tricks the pig butchers employ to lure victims around the world into investing into fake crypto schemes.

Pig butchering scammers stole at least $3bn last year according to the FBI, with victims usually aged between 30 and 60.

0:00 "Jessica" says hello
1:08 "Jessica" says she can make me rich
3:23 Where is "Jessica" based?
4:15 Trying to get my money back
5:25 Confronting "Jessica" and getting the truth

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[luvshak]

As a guy, it's very easy to determine if something is a scam. If a woman is talking to me, it's a scam.

[DennisC-zcyi]

Life rule no.1 : Girls simply DO NOT just show up and and start talking to you on the internet.

[paillette]

As a banker in 2014 I had a woman come into the bank wanting to wire 5k to her boyfriend, a soldier in Iraq. Guess what? Met him online, never in person, and I had to explain it was a scam. She was pretty upset, but rather broken heart than broken life. I didn't care if she hated me.

[SargisFarter]

Sensitization and awareness against crypto SCAMS is something that's not done ENOUGH by creators.

[rabbithowls]

If any woman sends you an unsolicited message, ever, it’s a scam.

[Bennyboy]

So no pigs were harmed during this scam? Thank goodness.

[williamswetnam]

The scammers didn't "earn" $200K last month; they ROBBED $200K last month.

[MarcosOliveira-vlun]

Plot twist: He actually got scammed and had to turn it into a BBC documentary just to save face!

[SpookiePower]

I usually tell the scammer that I inherited 50 million usd from an uncle in Nigeria. But that I need to pay a fee of 100 usd to get my money released. So if the scammer wants to pay the 100 usd, then I would like to invest some of my millions in his project.

[Overonator]

I'm kinda of feeling bad that nobody is trying to scam me. What am I not good enough to get scammed?

[fedvvvv]

Simple rule of thumb which at this point is just basic common sense, ignore ALL messages from strangers on social media. It's not rocket science.

[Jane-brfb]

You people are amazing! I appreciate you rescuing so many possible victims. Raise awareness You've gained yet another fan. I appreciate you offering this service. These con artists must be stopped right away; they are despicable. You're greatly benefiting the world by doing this myRETRIEVAL.

[chinmaykar]

My first response to any such messages is "I am very poor and I cannot buy you things". Usually it ends there

[redstickham]

When someone you've never met in real life starts asking for money, that's the time to turn tail and run.

[unknownlegend]

Dude got tied up in a catfish scam and wrote a BBC report to keep wife unsuspecting 😂

[emberdiosa]

"Much to my wife's relief"
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 💀

[thorphoeung]

When a beautiful "single" woman contacts me from out of the blue. Immediate red flag.

[winnieformpilates]

Never assume who’s the other side of that picture, be vigilant and take care of yourself.

[GDKamran]

Every one should have a dedicated person like you on online People dream of hiring such a talented person like you. Keep up the hard work thank you so much for your dedication in this process, thank you for your commitment to your job. Your outstanding performance helped me a lot *universaldispute*

[smp]

"and much to my wife's relief" 😆😂🤣