A 75-year-old man has shared the heartbreaking text messages that cost him $715,000 of his life savings in a sickening “pig butchery” scam that lasted for months.
The man, who did not want to be identified, told the Wall Street Journal how the elaborate ruse convinced him that a younger woman had fallen in love with him and needed his help.
The scam began in May of last year when a woman posing as a lonely but successful 37-year-old Chinese woman living in San Francisco messaged him on LinkedIn.
Over the next three months, she convinced him to transfer his life savings to a fake trading platform, promising that they could get married and live together using the returns on his investment.
Once he used up all his (and his partner’s) assets, the woman stopped responding to his messages and his money disappeared.
A 75-year-old man was scammed and lost $715,000 in his life savings after falling for a “pig butcher” scam targeting lonely and vulnerable people online.
The man is a 75-year-old professional who lives in the Midwest of the United States.
He is one of millions of people around the world who are targets of so-called pig slaughter scams, in which strangers seduce vulnerable and lonely people online, building trust and convincing them to invest money in bogus schemes.
Once they have taken the money, the scammers, who mostly pose as beautiful young women, disappear.
In reality, many of the scammers are men who work in complexes run by Chinese criminal syndicates in parts of Southeast Asia and West Africa, according to The Journal.
Many of the scammers are themselves victims of trafficking and are trained and given phones and scripts to pursue their targets under threat of violence.
In this case, the woman contacted the man via LinkedIn, exchanging pleasantries before suggesting they switch to WhatsApp.
The man told him he had a modest retirement fund but was still working full-time and living with his partner of 40 years, whom he said he had become estranged from.
She sent him photographs of “herself” at fancy restaurants, shopping and traveling, and told him she had moved to the United States from China eight years earlier.
She said she was lonely and longed for a companion and was just looking for true love.
They bonded over their love of food, travel, fitness and pets and she sent him detailed descriptions of her meals and workouts.
They had a few brief voice calls and a video call at first, likely taken by a model at one of the complexes, but then communicated solely via text messages.
The scammer posed as a Chinese woman called Violaine and contacted the man via LinkedIn before suggesting they switch to WhatsApp. The woman claimed that she was lonely and looking for true love, and the couple even planned a road trip together.
The scammer began telling the man about his “uncle’s” company and tricked him into transferring more than $700,000 to a “trading platform.” She talked him through setting up the account and assured him he could trust her.
Once they established a good relationship, she began telling him about her ‘uncle’s’ company, who she claims made a fortune trading gold futures on a platform called FX6.
Over the next three months, he manipulated and cajoled the man into transferring $715,000 to the platform, which then disappeared.
She convinced him how to open an account and transfer the money, promising, “We will be very happy in the future… I really thank God for allowing me to meet you.”
While assuring her that she could “trust me,” the couple planned a road trip together that she said they could take with the profits from their investments.
When he doubted her or asked her why she needed to transfer the money, she made him feel guilty and told him, “Your distrust of me made me feel once again the inconstancy of men.”
As the amounts he transferred to the plan increased, his bank began warning him that he could be a victim of the scam, but with their help he ignored the bank and continued making larger payments.
He sold his shares and took out a loan to meet the increasing payments.
Then, when he said he had nothing left to invest, she disappeared.
When he doubted her or asked why he needed to transfer the money, the scammer made him feel guilty.
When the man had nothing left to invest, ‘Violaine’ stopped responding to his messages and disappeared
He sent her frantic messages, begging her to respond and explain what had happened.
In one of them he said: ‘Do me a favor and shoot me.’ I have nothing to live for. No money, no family and no soulmate.
She did not answer.
He reported her to the FBI, but nothing came of his report; the FBI told The Journal that complaints are reviewed and sent to the relevant law enforcement agencies.
He has not recovered any of his money and has finally accepted that it was a scam.
Now he wants to raise awareness about the plans and how easy it is to be attacked. She told The Journal: “She hooked me.”