A pig-butchering scam, also called a romance baiting scam by some law enforcement and online safety organizations, is a form of online relationship and investment fraud in which perpetrators cultivate a fake romantic or social relationship with a victim before persuading them to invest money, most often in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. The scam is common on social media platforms and dating apps, and it typically combines the separate tactics of catfishing, investment fraud and romance scams into a single extended fraud.
Facts
Elements of OffenseUnsolicited contact or a fake profile builds trust, then the victim is offered too-good-to-be-true returns on investments through fraudulent websites 1 Notable ExamplePrince Group of Cambodia and its chairman Chen Zhi, indicted by the US Department of Justice in October 2025 1 Classification
Offense GradeSerious or Indictable Offense 1 Connections
Has Offense Grade
Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.
Sources
1. Pig butchering scam, Wikipedia
How the scam works
After gaining the victim's trust, the scammer offers too-good-to-be-true rates of return on trades or investments using genuine-looking but fraudulent websites
Notable prosecutions, Prince Group
US Department of Justice indicted the Prince Group of Cambodia and its founder and chairman Chen Zhi on wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering charges
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