Business View Civil Municipal - July 2023

8 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 Online fraud is today’s most common crime. Victims are often told they are foolish for falling for it, but fraudsters use psychological mechanisms to infiltrate the defenses of their targets, regardless of how intelligent they are. media pages, the traditional PayPal scam, and a new scam called the “fake app alert” in which malware is hidden on apps that look legitimate. Join thousands of Canadians who subscribe to free evidence-based news. Pig butchering In our work as fraud psychology researchers we have noticed a trend towards hybrid scams, which combine different types of fraud. Hybrid scams often involve crypto investments and sometimes use trafficked labour In the US alone, the FBI recently reported that people lost US $3.3 billion (£2.6 billion) in 2023 to investment fraud. Pig butchering is a long-term deception. This type of scam combines elements of romance scams with an investment con. The name comes from the strategy of “fattening up” a victim with affection before slaughter . It will usually begin with standard scam approach like a text, social media message, or an introduction at a job board site. Victims may have their guard up at first. However, these scams can unfold over months, with the scammer slowly gaining the victims’ trust and initiating a romantic relationship all the while learning about their vulnerabilities. For example, details of their financial situation, job stresses, and dreams about the life they want. Romance scammers often saturate their targets with affection and almost constant contact. Pig butchering sometimes involves several trafficked people working as a team to create a single persona. Once the victim depends on the scammer for their emotional connection, the scammer introduces the idea of making an investment and uses fake crypto platforms to demonstrate returns. The scammers may use legitimate sounding cryptocoins and platforms. Victims can invest and “see” strong returns online. In reality, their money is going directly to the scammer.