"Even now, face to face with his decimated savings, it's hard to reconcile the five-month relationship he had with a Finnish woman in Florida with the elaborate scam it now clearly was. It felt different than a typical con too personal, too involved, too reciprocal. But really, what's known as pig butchering schemes where scammers build relationships and trust with victims before tricking them into sham cryptocurrency investments have become particularly pervasive, with some operations tied to mass scam centers based abroad."
"They talked for hours, sometimes by video chat. At one point she even sent him gifts, an expensive pickleball paddle and clothing. There'd been a planned visit, although it was canceled last-minute, supposedly because of a family emergency just after she'd arrived at the airport in San Francisco. They keep you so engaged everyday I think because they know if they can gain your trust they can get your money, the man said."
"The woman said she taught pilates and yoga and would often send pictures from her studio but she also invested with the help of an aunt who owned a company that predicted cryptocurrency trends. The Santa Rosa man had saved about $500,000 for retirement, which he planned to take in the spring, but as the sole provider for his wife and a child, he was worried about how long it would last."
Pig butchering scams involve scammers building prolonged romantic relationships to gain trust before steering victims into sham cryptocurrency investments. A Santa Rosa man in his 70s conversed daily for five months with a woman who identified as Finnish and claimed to teach pilates and yoga. The woman sent gifts, participated in video chats, and canceled a planned visit citing a family emergency. She described investing with an aunt who predicted crypto trends. The man had about $500,000 saved for retirement and, as the sole provider for a wife and child, worried about his financial future after the losses.
Read at www.pressdemocrat.com
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