- I remember calls from “boiler room” investment salesmen back in the 70s.
- How about “airplanes”? Those chain letter type scams. I actually fell for one of those. I felt so bad that I refunded the people that got in below me.
- The Iraq Dinar? I know two people who have died waiting for the currency to revalue, and another guy who still believes it’s going to happen.
- The Nigerian Prince scam. A friend of mine lost a couple $k on this one. She was afraid to tell her husband. I don’t blame her.
- The Grandson Scam. One of my sweetest widow clients lost about $25K on this. She may have been old, but she was not someone who I thought would be vulnerable. She explained to me in minute detail how the scam unfolded. You think you are not vulnerable? Think again.
- Various Romance Scams. A friend not much older than me, somehow was befriended by a beautiful South African girl (he showed me texted pictures), who inherited gold bars from daddy. She just needed some cash to get them out of storage. She would then send them to his local police department, in care of him, and then fly into the USA to live happily ever after with my pal. Even after I showed him evidence and history of the fraud, he didn’t believe it. His daughter got hold of his phone and deleted its history, but he eventually found his South African girlfriend. The only consolation is that he has no savings to get scammed out of, just what he can spare from his SS.
- Fake law enforcement scams, IRS agent scams, turnpike toll scams, hacked computer…….
- Possibly the most common scam of all; theft by family members.
It’s a never ending battle. I feel like we’re chasing our tales. But me, I’m way too smart to fall for any of it. NOT.
Scams will ruin you mentally and financially. I have been there and it was too late by the time i reported to get it back but i still had my case submitted “4𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘣𝘺𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘴.𝘰𝘳𝘨/𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵#𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵-𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮” to raise awareness and prevent the next person from falling victim for the same thing i fell for. and I got so much peace knowing I have done my part.
Pig butchering scam
My aunty was a victim of romance scam and was only saved when she reported to (Spirassp . com) and recovered lost funds. This is so sad and hopefully people can avoid pig butchering scam by being aware of these 5 ways of how it occurs..
They initiate contact by reaching out to you on social media platforms or a random text pretending to have sent the wrong message.
They build trust by trying to be friendly or start of a romantic relationship over weeks or months gaining the victims trust and confidence.
The scammers introduce you to a “too good to be true” investment in crypto, forex or stocks often showing fake profits.
The scammers encourage their victims to make a deposit by starting with small amounts first, seeing fake returns which leads to them investing more.
When it’s time for withdrawal, the victim is met with delays, extra fees or account restrictions. Eventually, the scammers disappears with the funds.
Here are some red flags to watch out for;
Unsolicited messages from strangers
Promise of high returns with little risk
Pressure to invest quick
Fake trading platforms that look real but don’t allow withdrawals
Pig butchers can often be seen in comment threads on financial YouTube channels. The good financial advice channels like The Money Guy, Erin Talks Money, and Humphrey Yang are plagued with them. They are hidden in long strings of replies, but eventually a name and a contact number is given. YouTube is trying to figure out how to get rid of these spambots.
Thanks, M. I have received many suspicious texts, similar to what you describe here. Thanks, for this additional information.