Phone call spam has slowly transitioned towards text message scams over the years. One of the latest texting scams has become known as “Pig Butchering”. The method involves “finding a target, fattening up the target, building trust with them, and then taking advantage of them and slaughtering the pig,” according to John Haraburda, director of product management at Transaction Network Services.
These message sequences begin with a simple introduction such as “sorry I’m running late” or a simple “hey”. A response opens the door for these scammers, and they’ll then follow up by asking a seemingly innocent question or favor. Once the relationship has been built up through friendly (or sometimes even romantic) texts, the scammer will look to exploit the developed trust by asking for something like a money transfer or crypto investment.
Even savvy phone users are getting caught up in these scams, as social engineering continues to become more refined. The more believable the spam texts seem, the more likely the scammers are to be successful. It’s important to be especially cautious these days in handing out personal information and we would recommend ignoring emails from people you do not know.
If you have any concerns about texting scams, cybersecurity, or just general IT questions, feel free to reach out to us at info@optfinity.com.
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