Facebook's Parent Meta Issues Advisory On 'Pig Butchering' - What Does It Really Mean?

Meta is cracking down on scammers across platforms, and has issued an advisory to users to be aware of 'Pig Butchering'.

What Is Pig Butchering?

The idea is to gain trust and build relationships online with someone, only to manipulate them in the future. The scammers ask people to deposit money into an investment scheme, including cryptocurrency. The people getting scammed ultimately lose that money. These scams can start anywhere, social media, dating apps, email, text messages or other apps.

Who Runs Pig Butchering Scam?

Crime syndicates based in Asia Pacific run these scams. They present too good-to-be true job postings on job boards. They then force the recruits to work as scammers, often intimidating them by threatening physical abuse. Scamsters are located in Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, and UAE, among other places.

"The US Institute of Peace estimates that up to 300,000 people are forced into scamming others around the world by these criminal groups, with about 64 billion dollars stolen worldwide annually as of the end of 2023," Meta said.

What Is Meta Doing?

"Our investigative teams monitor these designated DOIs for attempts to circumvent our enforcement. This includes looking for new scam compounds globally and continuously disrupting their operations. This year alone, we’ve taken down over two million accounts associated with scam centers in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines. We also continue to update behavioral and technical signals associated with these hubs to help us scale automated detection and block malicious infrastructure and recidivist attempts."

"We actively engaged with expert NGOs and law enforcement partners in the US and Southeast Asia to better understand the modus operandi of these criminal groups." Meta said.