What is a pig butchering scam in simple terms?

A pig butchering scam is a long-running online fraud where a stranger spends weeks building trust with you — usually pretending to be a romantic interest or new friend — then lures you onto a fake crypto trading platform. They let you 'win' on small deposits, push you to invest more, and disappear once you try to withdraw. The Chinese name 'sha zhu pan' (杀猪盘) translates as 'pig butchering plate': the victim is fattened up before slaughter.

How long does a pig butchering scam usually take?

Most victims report 3 to 12 weeks between first contact and first deposit. The slow build is the defining feature — it separates pig butchering from quick romance or investment scams.

Why can I see profits on the platform but can't withdraw?

The trading platform is custom-built software showing fabricated numbers. Your deposit moved to the scammer's wallet the moment it cleared. No 'tax' or 'fee' will release a balance that does not exist. Every withdrawal-fee request is the next stage of the scam.

Can I recover money lost to a pig butchering scam?

Direct recovery is rare because crypto routes through mixers within hours. The best paths are: (1) immediate bank chargeback if you funded via debit or credit card, (2) reporting to IC3, Action Fraud, or your national cybercrime unit, (3) asking the receiving exchange to freeze the wallet if it lands somewhere identifiable. Never pay a 'recovery agent' — they are second-stage scammers feeding off victim lists.

How do I check if a trading platform is a pig butchering front?

Use the GACS Wallet Checker for the deposit address, the Safe Scanner for the platform URL, and search the platform name on /scam-alerts. If the platform is unverifiable on regulator registers and uses Telegram or WhatsApp groups for support, treat it as hostile.

Why is it called pig butchering?

The term comes from the Chinese 'sha zhu pan' (杀猪盘), literally 'pig-butchering plate'. The scammer 'fattens the pig' (builds trust, shows fake profits) before 'slaughtering' it. The phrase became standard FBI and Interpol terminology in 2022.

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Every entry in this feed starts as a report — from a victim, a researcher, or one of our automated detectors monitoring on-chain drainer wallets, look-alike domains and rogue broker licenses. A moderator or the learned-rules engine confirms the evidence, assigns a severity, and publishes. The result: a continuously updated, dated, searchable record of active threats — not a stale list scraped once a quarter.

Use the feed two ways. Check before you click: run the URL, wallet address, phone or token symbol through the search above or the dedicated checkers below — if it's flagged here, walk away. Recognize the pattern: read a few entries in the category you're worried about (fake brokers, wallet drainers, romance scams) to spot the same playbook before it reaches you. Most scam losses happen to people who'd never seen the pattern before, not people who ignored a warning.

→ Check a website (URL, SSL, age, reputation)→ Check a crypto wallet address → Phone, email or social-handle scanner → Report a scam you've encountered → Browse all scam categories → Free anti-fraud training (GACS)→ Learn hub — awareness guides → Parent got a weird message? First-hour triage → Best phishing detection services (compared)

Frequently asked questions

How often is the scam alerts feed updated?▾

Continuously. Every verified report — from the GACS community, partner feeds and automated detectors — appears within minutes of confirmation. The trending section refreshes hourly based on report velocity over the last 7 days.

What counts as a 'verified' scam alert?▾

An entry is verified when at least one of: a moderator confirms reporter evidence, the entity matches a known fraud pattern in our learned-rules engine, or it appears across multiple independent reports with consistent indicators (same wallet drainer, same broker license fraud, same phishing kit).

How are severity levels assigned?▾

Critical = active financial loss with on-chain proof or regulator notice. High = strong evidence (multiple victim reports + technical indicators). Medium = single credible report awaiting corroboration. Low = soft signals (suspicious patterns, no confirmed loss yet).

Can I check if a specific website, wallet, phone or token is on the list?▾

Yes — use the search box above, or jump straight to the dedicated checkers: website checker for URLs, wallet checker for crypto addresses, the safe scanner for phone numbers and the trending feed for tokens and brokers.

What should I do if I find a scam that's not listed here?▾

Report it. The report form takes under a minute, accepts evidence screenshots, and pushes the entry into moderation. Confirmed reports appear in this feed and feed the learning engine that catches the next variant.

Are scam alerts geo-targeted?▾

The feed is global by default. Many scams (fake brokers, wallet drainers, romance fraud) target victims worldwide, so we surface everything. Filter by category to narrow to the scam type most relevant to your region or platform.

Why do some entries have a /scam/<slug> page and others don't?▾

Entries with enough evidence and traffic get a dedicated public page with full context, recovery steps and shareable verdict. Newer or lower-signal entries appear in the feed only until they accumulate enough signal to justify their own page.

Can I get notified when new scams are reported?▾

Yes. Enable push notifications above for the scam_alerts topic, or subscribe to the weekly safety digest for a curated Friday summary of the highest-impact entries from the past 7 days.