Compliance Corner - Pig Butchering Scams
Are you talking about “Pig Butchering” at your institution? If not, it’s something you should be talking about with your customers and your staff.
“Pig Butchering” is a type of confidence trick and investment fraud in which a victim is gradually lured into making increasing contributions, in the form of cryptocurrency, to a seemingly sound investment before the scammer disappears.
“Pig Butchering” is becoming more common, leading FinCen to issue an alert in September 2023 to increase awareness of this type of scam. Pig butchering scams have netted at least $75.3 billion since January 2020.
Help your customers determine the legitimacy of an investment opportunity they’re considering by asking them the following questions:
- Do you have a certified financial planner? If yes, did they recommend this company or have you talked to them about this company? (If they answer that they didn’t talk to the financial planner about the company ask the next couple of questions.)
- How did you hear about this company?
- Have you done any research on the company?
- Do you personally know anyone who has utilized this company? Did they have good results?
Please see the FinCen alert for more details and references regarding pig butchering scams.