pig butchering

English

Etymology

Calque from Mandarin 殺豬盤／杀猪盘 (shāzhūpán, “pig-butchering plate”).

Noun

pig butchering (uncountable)

1. A scam technique in which victims are tricked into investing large amounts of money into a fictitious brokerage (usually a cryptocurrency wallet), which actually sends their funds directly to the scammers.
   • 2022 February 20, Wong Shiying, “The pig-butchering scam: Con artists who come for your heart and wallet”, in The Straits Times‎^[1]:

     According to news reports, pig-butchering scams started in China in 2016. Back then, scammers groomed their victims to place bets on fake gambling websites.

   • 2022, China Internet Development Report 2020, page 157:

     Intense efforts were also made to crack down on four types of high-incidence network fraud cases, namely, network loans, network click farming, pig-butchering scams and pretending as customer service personnel.

   • 2022 August 25, Cheyenne DeVon, “Got a text from a wrong number? It could be an attempt at 'pig butchering,' a crypto scam costing investors millions”, in CNBC‎^[2]:

     'Pig butchering' scammers usually send a message via Whatsapp, text or another app like Tinder, as if it was intended for someone else, often with an attractive person’s profile photo.

Verb

pig butchering

1. present participle and gerund of pig butcher

Derived terms

• pig butcher