The Pig-Butchering Crypto Scam: ABC News Reports

Sharing My Story to Educate and Prevent Future Victims

Yesterday ABC News did a report on the kind of crypto scam I got caught up in last year where I lost my life savings. They interviewed me in the spring about it and included me in the final story.

Below is the national version that aired on ABC News at night and Good Morning America.

There was also a Bay Area version, local to where I live.

I'm sharing this story for several reasons:

1. To help educate people about this scam, which is becoming increasingly common.

2. To raise awareness about the various methods scammers use to initiate contact and build trust over time.

3. To offer support to others who have experienced similar situations.

Just last week, I received three texts from people pretending to know me. In my case, the scam originated on a dating website. These scams are still very much on the rise, using various methods to break the ice and play the long con, sometimes lasting months or years.

Over the past couple of years I’ve met, interacted and heard from many people that this has happened to. The shame and pain and reality of losing so much of what you spent years or decades building can be crippling. Knowing you’re not alone, you’re not a bad, dumb or naïve person and sharing and being there for each other is priceless.

The story estimates that 200,000 people are forced to work these scams. It's a form of human trafficking, with perpetrators tricking people into working for them, locking them in compounds, and coercing them to work up to 20 hours a day. They continually improve and refine their psychology and technology to execute their scams.

What makes the scam so successful is that once they convince you to invest, you think your money is secure as you’ve set up an account in your own name. You’ve also most likely been able to withdraw some of the funds at some point, further building trust that it is real.

Key Lessons

So clearly the first lesson is don’t engage with people you don’t know. And the second is that if you do happen to get drawn in, if money ever enters the conversation, even if you’re the one who brought it up and they tell you about a great investment, then you know it’s a scam.

That’s what happened to me. I was at a point in my life where I was already looking to find ways to invest some of my savings. I was actively educating myself on this topic when I happened to meet this person. All “she” did at first was tell me about herself and become a friend and romantic interest. It happened to include her background in finance and real estate. But she never brought up the idea of investing. I did as part of a conversation where maybe she could share some of her knowledge with me and I would share my knowledge as a Thai Massage teacher with her. That’s what opened the door.

What I will also say is that going through this, I have now learned that I am not defined by what happened to me. I am at the point where it is something that happened and I learned and continue to learn a lot about myself and what I am made of and what is truly important as a result of these events.

It has been quite the challenging journey and an essential chapter of my life and I have so much to be grateful for. There is so much to be grateful for and my intention is to continue to use these events as fuel for good, for educating, for sharing in a loving way.

And a word I would share if something like this has happened to you is please hold on, trust the process, share, ask for help and be kind to yourself. There is a way forward where your heart can repair, rebuild and hopefully become stronger than ever.