Interpol replaces dehumanizing "Pig Butchering" term with "Romance Baiting"

Interpol calls on the cybersecurity community, law enforcement, and the media to stop using the term "Pig Butchering" when referring to online relationship and investment scams, as it unnecessarily shames the victims impacted by these fraud campaigns.

The term "pig butchering" comes from how scammers perform social engineering scams where the victims are described as "pigs" to be "fattened" up before they are slaughtered.

These social engineering scams involve targeting people on social media to build trust by engaging in long-term communication and establishing a fabricated friendship or romantic partnership.

While the target sees the fraudster as a friend or romantic interest, the scammer aims to convince their marks into "loaning" them money or "investing" in fraudulent schemes, usually involving cryptocurrencies or other financial ventures.

Once the victims have invested heavily in the scam, the scammers "butcher" them by stealing the funds and cutting off all communication.

The FBI's 2023 Internet Crime Report warned that investment fraud scams saw a 38% increase from $3.31 billion in 2022 to $4.57 billion in 2023.

However, these types of social engineering attacks are not only financially devastating to victims but also psychologically devastating as they realize that someone they saw as a friend or romantic interest was just a scam.

In some cases, the emotional and psychological harm from the attack was so great that it has led to people taking their own life.

Interpol is now advocating for different terminology to describe these scams, such as "romance baiting," that shifts the blame from the victim to the fraudster.

"INTERPOL argues that the term 'pig butchering' dehumanizes and shames victims of such frauds, deterring people from coming forward to seek help and provide information to the authorities," reads a statement from Interpol.

"In contrast, the term' romance baiting' – which is already used by some law enforcement agencies and online safety experts – acknowledges the sophisticated tactics and emotional manipulation used by fraudsters to build trust with their victims. It places the spotlight squarely where it belongs: on the actions of the perpetrators, rather than those of the victims."

Interpol also argues that shaming the victim rather than the fraudster may deter victims from promptly coming forward and seeking help from law enforcement.

This change is part of a broader effort to encourage victims to come forward without fear of judgment and to facilitate better support and information sharing with authorities.

While law enforcement may not be able to recover funds stolen in these scams, the timely indicators of compromise for such scams could be used to prevent others from being victimized and track down the cybercriminals.