The Australian Federal Police have revealed so called ‘pig butchering’ scams are the most common way online criminals are stealing money from Australians, especially older people. The scams take time to establish rapport and often involve crypto currency. According to the AFP around 47 per cent of total scams were crypto-related.

The AFP’s August 28 statement revealed Australians have lost $180 million to crypto scams in the last 12 months. WA is set to overtake its 2023 total loss of $3.7 million with the 2024 total at nearly $3 million for the first nine months of the year.

According to Acting Assistant Cybercrime Command Chris Goldsmid ‘pig butchering’ scammers devote long periods of time to gaining the trust of a victim before luring them into fake investment schemes which usually involve cryptocurrency.

‘Pig butchering’ scams originated from China in 2016 with the name derived from the Chinese phrase Sha Zhu Pan in which scammers “fatten up” their victims like pigs before taking all of their money.

The victims believe they are trading on legitimate platforms, but the money is siphoned into an account owned by the scammers who create fake platforms which look identical to well-known sites.

Unlike traditional romance scams which are initiated on dating apps, ‘pig butchering’ is often started with scammers cold texting individuals on messaging apps to initiate a friendship.

According to Scamwatch, more than 15,000 West Australians have reported being scammed this year, yet the victim toll is far greater with family members of the victim often being affected by the scam as well.

Kerryn Keating is one of many Australians who has been impacted by ‘pig butchering’ scams. Her 78-year-old mother was contacted by a stranger on WhatsApp five months ago. The stranger proposed the idea of making money through a crypto investment scheme.

After being groomed for months under the false pretence of making money, her mother created an account on the website provided to her by the scammer and began to invest money.

Ms Keating, who oversees her mother’s finances, was soon alerted to the scam when she received a barrage of messages and calls from her mother which requested her to transfer money.

“It started with her asking me to transfer her $500, then it went up to $2000, then $5000 and now she is demanding that I transfer her $20,000,” she said.

“She’s been absolutely desperate, she’s been phoning my sister and me 30 times a day while we’re at work, begging us for the money and threatening us if we don’t give it to her.”

After Ms Keating spoke to her mother and saw the text exchanges with the stranger, Ms Keating realised her mother had fallen victim to a ‘pig butchering’ scam.

The messages sent from the scammer included fake investment statements which showed continual growth in her mother’s investment, a method used by scammers to encourage the victim to invest more money.

The scammer began to send her mother aggressive messages when she refused to transfer more money into the account, threatening to kick her from the WhatsApp group if she refused to transfer $15,000.

WA Psychologist Kim Cullen said scammers employ fear to intimidate and manipulate their victims.

“Often scam approaches with the elderly are fear based because fear is a motivator for poor decision making,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter how intelligent or educated somebody is, if they’re making emotion-based decisions, then it’s a bigger chance of it being the wrong decision.”

The Federal Government is helping to spread the word about scam risks via activities such as August’s Scams Awareness Week.

Ms Cullen said people need to stay hyper vigilant when contacted by strangers. She said: “Before you sign up to anything ask a few more questions to ensure you’re not falling for a scam.”