The Global Crime of Pig Butchering
Mnemonic Podcast | Trust is one of the most powerful and dangerous currencies that we have. Whether it's a phishing email, a romance scam, or a human trafficking operation, the criminals behind it exploit some of the same dynamics — mainly that trust can be earned by playing to our emotions.
This is particularity true when it comes to the global crime of “pig butchering.” The scam involves luring victims into fake relationships, convincing them to invest in cryptocurrency schemes, and then stealing their money through fake investment platforms.
Operation Shamrock’s Erin West explains how Chinese organized crime uses high-tech methods, including cryptocurrency, to defraud victims of their life savings, the link to human trafficking, and the surprising scale of it all.