Yesterday I read this story: "Brooklyn DA’s office busts million-dollar ‘pig butchering’ crypto scam operation."
"Pig butchering is a virtual scam practice of luring individuals online and gaining their trust through conversation before convincing them to invest through apps and website domains in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes. Victims of the crime are enticed by the subsequent huge financial returns in their investments, but when they try to withdraw the money are blocked from their accounts, losing out entirely."
My sisters are very familiar with this type of scam. It is called 杀猪盘 (shā zhū pán) in Chinese, meaning pig butchering scam.
I shared the story with my mother. I said, criminals often exploit vulnerabilities in people, such as loneliness and the desire for companionship or the desire to make a fortune. Loneliness can make people more susceptible to chatting casually with people online. The criminals are good at manipulating people psychologically and eventually get what they want from their victims.
My mother said, "Don't worry about me. I don't have these vulnerabilities for bad guys to take advantage of." "Yes, you do." I reminded my mother.
Once a long-lost comrade-in-arm of my mother's called her asking for 20,000 RMB for some urgent medical need. Without checking the authenticity of the call, she immediately went to the bank to withdraw money. Luckily the cashier at the bank asked her some questions and informed my sister.
Kindness and compassion are admirable qualities, but sometimes they can make people gullible. It's actually super easy to create false tragic stories to gain sympathy and ultimately victimize the kind people.
Be aware of common tricks and tactics practiced by criminals, especially emotional manipulation, so that we can avoid being butchered like pigs.