Interpol: Can We Drop the Term 'Pig Butchering'?

Victims of online scams are being deterred from coming forward for fear of being associated with language like "pig butchering," a phrase used to describe long-con romance fraud schemes, according to Interpol, which has released an awareness campaign advocating for the use of "romance baiting" in its place.

Romance-baiting cybercrimes start with a fake relationship, in which the target "pig" is "fattened up" before they are scammed into sending money, then "butchered" and subsequently ghosted once they've handed over the "whole hog" of their assets. Once victims realize they've been manipulated and scammed, they're left heartbroken and embarrassed, and further labeling them as a pig isn't helpful, Interpol argues as part of its wider "Think Twice" campaign.

Run by sprawling international cybercrime operations, pig butchering scams cost victims billions every year. One large pig butchering operation was discovered to be running full-fledged call centers staffed by forced labor in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, raking in more than $60 billion over the past three years. The pig butchering tactic has likewise been used in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

"Academic research clearly shows the links between the tactics of fraudsters and of perpetrators of domestic abuse and coercive control," Dr. Elisabeth Carter, associate professor of criminology and forensic linguist at Kingston University London, said in a statement from Interpol. "It is imperative that we do not adopt the terminology of these criminals but instead use terms that assist public protection and support victim reporting."