Interpol wants everyone to stop saying 'pig butchering'

Interpol wants to put an end to the online scam known as "pig butchering" – through linguistic policing, rather than law enforcement.

The international police agency announced it will no longer use the term because it makes victims feel bad, which in turn discourages reporting of the crime.

"The term comes from fraudsters referring to their victims as 'pigs' – those they gradually 'fatten up' by luring them into a fake romance or friendship before 'butchering' them by convincing them to invest, often in fake cryptocurrency schemes," the agency explained on Tuesday.

"Once victims invest significant sums of money, they are manipulated further or abruptly cut off, often leaving them with devastating financial losses as well as psychological harm.

"Interpol argues that the term 'pig butchering' dehumanizes and shames victims of such frauds, deterring people from coming forward to seek help and provide information to the authorities."

The term reportedly originates from the Mandarin Chinese phrase shazhupan (杀猪盘), which translates literally to "killing pig game." It refers to the practice of fattening a hog before it's slaughtered. For scammers, that means taking time to build trust with the victim in order to obtain as much money as possible through duplicity.

In place of "pig butchering," Interpol proposes the term "romance baiting" – evidently satisfied that a fishing metaphor involving lures, bait, and hooks makes self-esteem more sustainable for victims.

To drive that point home to news outlets, Interpol has published a YouTube video suggesting that headline editors adopt its preferred terminology.

And in an effort to rewrite history, the agency has gone back through old press releases and replaced the now taboo term.

• North Korea's fake IT worker scam hauled in at least $88M over six years
• Interpol nabs thousands, seizes millions in global cybercrime-busting op
• The only thing worse than being fired is scammers fooling you into thinking you're fired
• Asian crime gangs are growing – fast – thanks to AI and other tech

For example, this press release from March 11, 2024 concludes with a note that it has been edited: "The term 'pig butchering' in this original story was changed to 'romance baiting' in December 2024 to reflect our change in terminology to focus on the human impact of this crime and show respect to the victims who often endure significant emotional and financial harm."

Viewed through the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, Interpol's past use of the term "pig butchering" is evident.

Google Search also remembers. A post about Project VICTOR (VIrtual assets-facilitated financial Crime – Trace, Obstruct and Recover), indexed by Google with the date September 15, 2023, shows up in search results with the snippet: "Cyber-enabled scams such as pig butchering scams …"

But in the linked web document, that passage has been revised to read: "Cyber-enabled scams such as Romance baiting scams …" – with no disclosure about editing.

Interpol's revisionism hasn't yet reached its PDF archives. The Project Victor document [PDF] listed in the Related Documents page footer was missed by the language police – the term "pig butchering scam" appears throughout. And other PDFs – like the Interpol Global Financial Fraud Assessment [PDF] linked from the March 11, 2024 – similarly retain their original language.

US law enforcement agencies like the Secret Service, the Department of Justice, and the FBI, along with financial agencies and state agencies, still use "pig butchering." The Federal Trade Commission, however, appears to have avoided using the term in public web documents.

According to the FBI, "'pig butchering' is one of the most prevalent and damaging fraud schemes today …" ®