Scammers look for targets on various social platforms. After getting to know the victims’ interests, scammers easily win the victims’ affection and start an online romantic relationship. Then, scammers use a plethora of reasons to ask for money. Scammers and victims never meet in real life.
1. Professionals: Scammers usually claim to be professionals, such as an international company of engineers and management officers in international corporations, who come from Western countries but currently working in South East Asia. They communicate with the victims in English and ask them for money using different reasons.
2. Excuses, excuses: Scammers falsely claim that they need to pay a large medical bill or need cash urgently.
3. Never met in real life: Victims have never seen the scammers (be it in person or through video call). After scammers receive money, they delete their social media accounts, phone numbers or email addresses, cutting off contact with the victims completely.
1. Pig Seeking: Scammers pretend to be wealthy millennials and look for targets on social platforms or dating app, and keep chasing them to establish romance relationships shortly.
2. Pig Feeding: Scammers induce victims to invest in securities, foreign exchange or virtual assets in fake investment platforms or by using fake mobile apps. At the beginning, scammers would let victims make small profits.
3. Pig Butchering: When the victims make profits and request to cash out, the fake platform administrator will make up reasons to delay the request and lure the victims to make even greater investment which causes the victims to suffer huge loss.
1. The URLs of fake websites are generally not found in search engines and fake apps are not listed on official app stores. The stock or product prices, as well as the user’s asset portfolio etc., are all fake.
2. When the victims make profits and request to cash out, the fake platform administrator will make up excuses, such as account is frozen, fines for illegal investments, extra service recharge to process the cashing out etc., to lure the victims to make further investments. Victims end up suffering huge losses.
1. Use the search engine to search for photos on the other party’s social accounts
2. Check whether the friend circle of the other party’s account is abnormal
3. If you have doubts about the identity of the other party, try to talk to the other party via video call
4. Do not download apps from unknown sources
5. Beware of investment plans with unrealistic returns
6. If in doubt, input phone numbers, social media account names, etc, in Scameter to assess risk, or call 18222 for enquiries
