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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute“Pig butchering” is a cryptocurrency investment scam built on trust: a fraudster cultivates a relationship, steers the victim toward a fake investment platform, and siphons away money as the victim believes the account is growing. In a 2023 interview, then–Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Erin West described the operation as a massive transfer of wealth to criminal networks operating primarily in Southeast Asia. The figures available do not establish a definitive pig-butchering-only total or a precise amount sent to that region.
How the scam works, according to Erin West
In testimony to Congress in September 2024, West described a typical version of the fraud. Her account is not a claim that every case follows the same script.
- A relationship is established. A victim meets someone online who appears to be a romantic prospect. Frequent messages build familiarity and trust. An unexpected “wrong number” text can also be an entry point, as West notes in an explainer for the California District Attorneys Association; that example does not establish how common the approach is.
- The conversation turns to investing. The supposed partner introduces the victim to cryptocurrency investing, sometimes through a purported relative presented as an expert.
- The victim sends cryptocurrency to a fake platform. The victim is coached to buy cryptocurrency and move it from an exchange to an investment site controlled by the scammers.
- A convincing dashboard encourages more deposits. The site displays apparent gains, but West says both the platform and its returns are fabricated. The scammers control the funds. The victim may keep transferring money until savings are depleted.
West says perpetrators take time to learn about a victim’s finances and can target the victim’s entire net worth. The apparent investment account is not evidence that the money is invested or available to withdraw.
Why West calls it a massive wealth transfer
In a July 2023 CyberScoop interview, West called the scheme a “massive wealth transfer in the billions and billions of dollars” from the middle class in the United States and other countries. She described funds moving to wallets controlled by money mules, primarily located in Southeast Asia. That is West’s characterization of the scale and flow, not a measured total specific to pig-butchering proceeds or a complete accounting of their destinations.
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West also testified that “Pig butchering is exponentially more destructive than any other romance scam we’ve ever seen.” That is her assessment, not a quantified comparison. In the 2023 interview, she called for better ways to identify the fraud and interrupt it: “There’s got to be a better way of identifying what’s happening and putting roadblocks in the way of it happening.”
What the reported figures do—and do not—measure
Available figures help show the scale of cryptocurrency investment fraud overall, but they should not be read as a pig-butchering-only tally. Complaints, estimated losses, seizures and victim repayments are different measures.
| Figure | What it covers | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| More than $5 billion in losses in 2023; 38% higher than the prior year | Crypto-investment-scam losses, as West described them in a CNN interview in 2024. | It is not a loss total limited to pig butchering. |
| $3 billion in 2022 and $4.5 billion in 2023 | FBI figures for crypto-investment-scam losses reported by ABC News. | These broader category figures do not isolate pig-butchering losses. |
| More than 18,000 complaints and over $1.9 billion in losses in the first six months of 2024 | FBI figures for crypto-investment scams in that six-month period, reported by ABC News. | They are neither a full-year figure nor a pig-butchering-only count. |
| Over $112 million in funds seized | Funds linked to cryptocurrency investment schemes, in a 2023 U.S. Department of Justice announcement. | A seizure is not the same as total victim losses or money returned to victims. |
The cited sources do not provide a comprehensive total of pig-butchering proceeds transferred specifically to Southeast Asia. The figures above therefore cannot be added together or used to infer a precise regional outflow.
The people behind scam operations may also be coerced
Scam compounds in Southeast Asia are part of the operating context described in a U.S. Department of Justice announcement about its Scam Center Strike Force. In a 2026 first-person statement, West said she conducted field investigations in Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. Reporting and West have also described people forced to carry out scam work as trafficking victims. The person sending messages is not necessarily an organizer or willing participant; responsibility should not be assigned to every worker in the operation.
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This does not lessen the financial harm to victims. It does mean the scheme can involve both people who organize and profit from fraud and people compelled to conduct it.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Erin West’s role and the timeline
West was a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney when she gave the 2023 CyberScoop interview and when she testified to Congress in September 2024. In a 2026 first-person statement, she said she later founded Operation Shamrock. Those dates matter: her law-enforcement role in the earlier accounts and her later work should not be conflated.
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Sources
- CyberScoop: Erin West on pig-butchering scams, July 12, 2023
- West’s congressional testimony, September 2024
- CNN report and interview on crypto scams
- ABC News report on FBI crypto-investment-scam figures
- U.S. Department of Justice announcement on seized funds
- U.S. Department of Justice announcement on the Scam Center Strike Force
- Erin West’s 2026 statement at Operation Shamrock
- California District Attorneys Association explainer by Erin West
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