Pig-butchering scams are confidence-based investment fraud: a stranger cultivates a relationship through a wrong number text, dating app, or social media before steering the target to a fake investment platform. Artificial intelligence can make the messages faster, more convincing, and easier to translate, but the strongest documented evidence covers specific operations—not proof that most criminal groups build their own AI systems or that AI caused the fraud’s growth.
What “pig butchering” means
The name describes a staged process rather than a single technology. A scammer first finds a person, earns trust over days or weeks, and only then introduces an investment opportunity. The relationship may be presented as romance, friendship, mentorship, or an accidental conversation that develops into regular contact.
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The FBI categorizes the scheme as cryptocurrency investment fraud. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) identifies wrong-number texts, dating apps, and social platforms as common ways that the conversation begins. The contact may look ordinary: a message asking whether the recipient is someone else, a comment on a social-media post, or a friendly conversation that gradually becomes personal.
The defining feature is the emotional preparation before the financial request. The target is encouraged to believe that the person offering investment guidance has special knowledge, a successful trading method, or a genuine interest in helping. Once that confidence exists, the scammer supplies a platform and instructions for depositing money.
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How the scam works, step by step
1. An apparently harmless contact creates an opening
Many victims first see a wrong number text. Others meet the person through a dating app or social media. The opening message is not necessarily an investment pitch; a scammer may spend considerable time building a plausible identity and learning the target’s interests, work, family situation, or financial goals.
2. Conversation becomes a relationship
The scammer keeps the exchange active and personal. Affectionate language, shared stories, and frequent check-ins can make the relationship feel reciprocal. A person who would reject a cold call may respond differently after believing that the online contact is a trusted friend or romantic prospect.
3. The investment story is introduced
The pitch can involve cryptocurrency trading, quantitative trading, fixed-time trades, gold futures, or AI-based trading programs. The reference to artificial intelligence is itself a sales device; it does not establish that the system is real, profitable, or even connected to a functioning market.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →A typical claim is that the contact has access to a private strategy, an advanced algorithm, or an opportunity unavailable to ordinary investors. The target is directed to an app or website selected by the scammer rather than an independently verified financial service.
4. A controlled deposit appears to confirm the story
The fake investment platform may show an account balance, charts, completed trades, and rising returns. The FBI reports that scammers sometimes allow an initial withdrawal. That small success is designed to make the platform appear legitimate and to persuade the target to deposit substantially more.
5. Larger deposits meet a withdrawal barrier
When the victim tries to withdraw the displayed profits or principal, the operator may demand additional “fees” or “taxes.” Paying those charges does not release the money; it gives the scammer another reason to request funds. The visible balance was controlled by the fraudster, so a screen showing profits is not evidence that an investment exists.
Why the fake platform is so persuasive
A fraudulent app or website supplies the visual authority that a text conversation lacks. It can present a professional dashboard, account numbers, market terminology, and a transaction history. Because the numbers change after each supposed trade, the target may interpret the activity as independent proof of success.
In reality, the displayed balance can be fabricated. The platform may be operated by the same group that controls the messages, or by a connected service used to receive deposits. The scam does not require the operator to make a real trade on a public exchange. It requires only a convincing interface and a way to route the victim’s money to wallets or accounts controlled by the criminals.
Early withdrawals are particularly effective as social engineering. A victim who receives a small amount back may tell friends that the opportunity is genuine, increase the next deposit, or borrow money to continue. When the eventual withdrawal is refused, the scammer can blame taxes, compliance checks, market volatility, or an account error.
What AI changes—and what the evidence actually shows
Artificial intelligence can reduce the effort required to maintain many conversations. It can draft messages in a consistent voice, translate between languages, adapt a script to a target’s replies, and keep a conversation moving at unusual hours. Those capabilities make a familiar confidence trick easier to scale, but they do not turn every scammer into a software engineer.
OpenAI described one documented romance-baiting operation in which scammers used models to generate or translate public comments and messages. The described workflow included ordinary engagement, affectionate conversation, investment persuasion, attempts to move targets to other messaging services, and directions toward an online trading app. OpenAI said it could not determine whether references to transactions in the conversations corresponded to completed transfers.
That account is a case study, not a prevalence survey. It demonstrates AI-assisted writing and translation in one operation. It does not establish what proportion of pig-butchering groups use generative AI, whether AI has increased their success rate, or how much any increase in scam revenue was caused by AI.
The “scammers are becoming developers” framing is therefore best understood as a change in operational capability. Criminal groups can assemble scam-controlled websites, apps, scripts, payment routes, and automated communications without inventing a new AI model. The available evidence supports the use of AI in communications and the use of fraudulent investment infrastructure; it does not show that operators generally build their own artificial-intelligence systems.
How large is the problem?
Different figures measure different things, so they cannot be added together into one worldwide pig-butchering total.
| Figure | Publisher and date | What it measures | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| At least $9.9 billion | Chainalysis, February 13, 2025 | Cryptocurrency scam receipts observed on-chain during 2024 | Total cryptocurrency scams, not pig-butchering-only revenue; Chainalysis said the estimate could rise as additional illicit addresses were identified. |
| Nearly 40% year-over-year growth | Chainalysis report on 2024 activity, published 2025 | Its estimate of pig-butchering revenue growth | An analytics-company estimate; it does not show that AI caused the increase. |
| $3.9 billion | FBI/IC3, 2023, cited in the FBI’s Operation Level Up account | Estimated U.S. losses from cryptocurrency-related investment fraud | U.S. reporting scope and 2023 period; not a global or pig-butchering-only total. |
| More than 4,300 people and $285 million | FBI, January 2025 | Potential victims notified and estimated losses saved through Operation Level Up | An intervention total, not the amount lost by all victims or all scams. |
FBI deputy assistant director James Barnacle described the problem plainly: “It’s a growing problem, and it’s a big problem affecting many Americans.” The statement concerns the threat facing Americans; it does not attribute growth to a particular technology.
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Warning signs in messages and investment pitches
- An unexpected wrong number text quickly turns into frequent personal conversation.
- A new online friend or romantic contact avoids meeting in person but offers detailed investment guidance.
- The contact insists on a particular app, website, wallet, or broker and discourages independent verification.
- The pitch promises unusually consistent returns, time-limited trades, secret access, or an AI-based trading program.
- The dashboard shows profits, but the only way to verify them is through the same person or platform that requested the deposit.
- A withdrawal request triggers a demand for taxes, release fees, deposits, or identity charges.
- Someone who claims to be able to recover lost cryptocurrency asks for an upfront payment.
No single sign proves fraud. The combination of an online-only relationship, unsolicited investment advice, a controlled platform, and pressure to send more money is the critical pattern.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What should I do if I think I’m being scammed?
- Stop sending money. Do not make a further deposit, pay a withdrawal fee, or transfer funds to “unlock” an account. Continuing to pay usually increases the loss.
- End the financial conversation. Do not argue about the displayed balance or provide additional identification documents. Save the messages before blocking the account.
- Preserve evidence. Keep usernames, phone numbers, email addresses, websites, app names, wallet addresses, transaction hashes, dates, amounts, cryptocurrency types, screenshots, and payment records.
- Report through the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Include the contact details, websites or apps, transaction dates and amounts, cryptocurrency type, destination wallet addresses, and transaction hashes that you have available.
- Alert the services involved. Contact the exchange, bank, card issuer, or payment provider used for the transfer as soon as possible. Ask what fraud or recall procedures are available; a reversal is not guaranteed.
- Reject paid recovery offers. The FBI warns that a person offering to recover cryptocurrency for a fee may be running a second scam. Do not give that person more money or access to your accounts.
If you have already shared passwords or identity documents, change reused passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, and watch financial accounts for unauthorized activity. These steps limit further account abuse even when a cryptocurrency transfer cannot be reversed.
How to verify an opportunity before any deposit
Separate the person from the investment
Trust in an online contact is not evidence that a financial product is legitimate. Treat investment advice from someone met solely online as unsolicited advice, regardless of how long the conversation has lasted.
Verify the platform independently
Use contact information and regulatory records found independently of the message thread. Do not rely on links, phone numbers, certificates, testimonials, or “support” contacts supplied by the person urging the deposit. Search for the legal entity, registration status, withdrawal terms, and complaints before installing an app or sending funds.
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A chart or balance is only an assertion by the platform. Ask how a withdrawal works, who holds the assets, what fees apply, and which regulated entity is responsible. Never treat a small successful withdrawal as proof that larger withdrawals will be honored; the FBI specifically identifies early withdrawals as a tactic for building trust.
What remains unknown about AI and pig-butchering
The documented AI-assisted operation shows that models can support outreach, translation, romance-oriented conversation, and investment persuasion. Blockchain estimates show the scale of cryptocurrency scam activity, while FBI figures show the scope of a victim-notification and savings effort. These are different kinds of evidence.
Current evidence does not establish the percentage of operations using generative AI, whether AI has made individual scams more profitable, or how much of the reported growth in pig-butching revenue is attributable to automation. It also does not justify treating every mention of an algorithm or AI trading as proof that a real algorithm exists. The practical risk is clear even without those unresolved measurements: persuasive communication and a convincing fake platform can work together to make a fraudulent deposit appear like a rational investment decision.
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