Pig-butchering scam: what to do if it happened to you

It's a long-con investment scam. FinCEN explains that the name comes from the practice of fattening a hog before slaughter: the scammer spends weeks or months building a friendship or romance, then steers the victim into a fake cryptocurrency investment platform and keeps them “investing” for as long as possible.

FinCEN and the FBI both describe these scams as largely run by criminal organizations based in Southeast Asia, using victims of human trafficking as forced labor. In 2025, cryptocurrency investment fraud was the largest source of losses reported to the FBI's IC3: $7.2 billion across 61,559 complaints.

• —Contact out of the blue, often presented as a wrong-number message or an attempt to reconnect with an old friend.
• —The conversation moves quickly to a private messaging app.
• —Talk turns to an investment opportunity on a platform or app you hadn't heard of.
• —The platform shows extraordinary returns. FinCEN notes these are fabricated, and scammers may let you withdraw a small amount early to build confidence.
• —You are offered loans or encouraged to invest more.
• —When you try to withdraw, you're told to pay taxes or early-withdrawal fees first.

No. The FBI describes the tax and fee demand as a final attempt to take more money from victims before the scammers disappear. The balance on the platform isn't real, and paying more doesn't release it.

• —Stop sending money to the platform or the person who introduced it.
• —Save the evidence the IC3 asks for: the cryptocurrency addresses, the amounts and types of cryptocurrency, the transaction hashes, and the dates and times of each transaction.
• —Keep your conversations with the scammer, the names and web addresses of the platform or app, and which exchanges you used to buy and send the crypto.
• —Report to the FBI at ic3.gov. If you're 60 or older, the Elder Justice Hotline (1-833-FRAUD-11) can help.
• —Report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and to the exchange you used to send the money.
• —In the UK, report to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040.

Sometimes, but rarely quickly and never guaranteed. The FTC notes that cryptocurrency payments typically are not reversible. Recovery happens when funds can be traced to something someone with legal power can freeze: a stablecoin like USDT, or an account at an exchange.

It does happen at scale. In June 2025 the US Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint against about $225 million in USDT linked to pig-butchering, with over 400 suspected victims, and thanked Tether for its assistance. Cases like that start with victims' reports and a clear trail of transactions.

The FBI reports that pig-butchering victims are also targeted by recovery scams. In 2025 the IC3 received 10,516 complaints about recovery scams, with $1.4 billion lost. The IC3 says it will never ask for payment to recover lost funds and will never refer you to a company that charges for recovery.

We trace the funds from your wallet or exchange account through each hop to where they ended up, and write a report your lawyer or law enforcement can act on. The intake review is free, and we'll tell you if we think a report won't help. We don't promise recovery.