Is this online friend leading you into an investment scam?
It started as a friendly message — maybe a wrong number, a dating app, or a new online friend. Over weeks, they were warm and attentive. Now they're sharing an investment that's making them a fortune, and offering to help you do the same. This is the fastest-growing scam there is, and it has a name: pig butchering. It's built to feel like the opposite of a scam.
“I'm so glad we met. My uncle taught me this crypto trading platform and I've made $40,000 this month. I can show you exactly what to do — start with just $500 and watch it grow. I only share this with people I truly care about.”
The warmth is the weapon. A real friend does not recruit you into crypto trading.
How to tell
You met online and have never met in person or on a live, back-and-forth video call.
They brought the talk around to investing, especially cryptocurrency or a special app or website.
You can see your money "growing" in an app or site they told you about.
A small withdrawal worked, but a bigger one is now blocked, or suddenly has "fees" or "taxes."
There's a gentle pressure to invest more, act now, or keep it just between the two of you.
What to do
1Stop sending money. The "fees" to withdraw are part of the scam, and paying them never releases your money.
2Answer a few questions in our free investment check to see it clearly.
3Talk to someone you trust today. This scam survives on staying private.
If you already clicked or paid
First: don’t blame yourself, and don’t hide it. Acting quickly matters more than anything else.
If you've invested, try to withdraw everything now, and don't pay any "fee" or "tax" they ask for to release it.
Call your bank and report it, and file a report at ic3.gov — these losses are taken seriously.
This is not your fault. Pig butchering fools warm, intelligent people by turning kindness into a weapon.
Worth remembering: A real friend never recruits you into an investment. If someone you met online is guiding your money, it is a scam, no matter how kind they seem.