Pig Butchering: Roger’s Story
Pig-butchering scammers set up websites to show victims that their investments are making huge returns, then convince them to invest more.
This story is part of Operation Shamrock’s Survivor Stories series.
It started with a simple “investment” of $250. In September 2023, Roger’s father met someone through Facebook who tipped him off to a hot investment opportunity.
Roger immediately knew it was a scam. He’s a web application developer who pointed out to his dad that the website for this purported multi-billion dollar investment company looked like an elementary school child had designed it. He refused to help his father set up an account. He pleaded with his dad not to give the site any money.
Roger’s father didn’t listen. And now he’s caught in a pig butchering scam.
Amazing Returns — And a Reality Check
Several months later, the fake investment website showed that his father’s initial $250 was now worth half a million dollars. All Roger’s father had to do to withdraw his windfall was to pay a small “compliance fee.” So he paid it. And then he paid another fee. And then another one. And yet another one. Each time Roger’s father paid a fee, the scammers him another fee was necessary to realize the incredible 2000% return on his small investment.
“It feels like a nightmare I can’t wake out of.”
By March of 2024, Roger’s dad had lost $30,000 in six months. And the scammers were just getting started.
Roger and his dad went to the bank, where the bank assured them that the fees his father was paying to the scammers were completely fraudulent. Roger then took his father to the police and filed a report. But later that day, Roger’s dad was back to interacting with the scammers and preparing to pay the next requested fee. The cycle just kept repeating.
A Textbook Example of Pig Butchering
“When this thing comes up, he just starts growling and turns into a different person.”
Roger has tried everything to get his father to recognize that he’s being scammed. To stop participating. To stop engaging with the professional criminals who are bleeding him dry. But nothing works. Banks, police, doctors, and family members have all told Roger’s father that he’s being scammed. Nothing stops him, though. He keeps paying the requested fees.
Talking to Roger, you can immediately see the pain that this scam has inflicted on his family. “It feels like a nightmare I can’t wake out of,” said Roger. “When this thing comes up, he just starts growling and turns into a different person.”
“It’s like he needs drug rehab,” said Roger. “You’d think after three, four, five, six times, you’d stop. But his comment just yesterday was that he’d gamble another $4,000 to get a $950,000 withdrawal.” Roger’s father is taking out loans and pawning family jewelry to come up with additional payments so he can claim his reward. There won’t be one.
The Difficulty of Stopping the Scam
Roger’s story shows one facet of how disrupting these scams is so difficult. If Roger’s dad was spending his family’s accumulated wealth on a substance abuse problem, there are resources Roger could employ. If he was gambling it away on sports, there are national hotlines that he could call. There’s no obvious place to go for help with a family member who’s falling prey to a scammer. If there were, Roger would’ve been there already.
Our financial institutions, law enforcement community, and technology providers don’t have comprehensive systems in place to combat these pernicious scams or even collaborate with each other. That’s why it’s important for people like Roger to speak out and tell their stories. And it’s why Operation Shamrock won’t stop fighting and raising awareness of pig butchering until people like Roger’s father are protected.
At Operation Shamrock, our mission is to educate the public, mobilize collective action, and disrupt the operations networks of transnational organized criminals to prevent further harm.
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