Pig-butchering (romance-investment)
Pig-butchering combines romance or friendship grooming with a fake trading platform. The victim is encouraged to invest more as fabricated 'gains' appear on a fake dashboard — until withdrawals are blocked and the contact disappears.
Reviewed by the AssetTrace investigations team
How does Pig-butchering (romance-investment) work?
- 1
Contact begins on a dating app, social platform, or a 'wrong number' message and builds trust over weeks.
- 2
The scammer introduces a 'proven' crypto or forex platform and helps the victim make a first small, withdrawable deposit.
- 3
A fake dashboard shows rapid gains, encouraging ever-larger deposits, sometimes funded by loans.
- 4
When the victim tries to withdraw, fees and 'taxes' appear, then the account is frozen and contact ends.
How does AssetTrace trace Pig-butchering (romance-investment) losses?
We trace the deposits from your wallet or exchange to the receiving infrastructure, identify the off-ramp exchanges, and assemble a court-admissible evidence package for your counsel and the competent FIU.
Funds are typically consolidated and off-ramped through one or more exchanges; speed of reporting materially affects whether a voluntary freeze is possible.