There has been lots of stories over the last few years about "Pig Butchering" scams, a confidence scam where people are convinced over a period of time to send increasing amounts of money to a contact. They appear in many forms, where there are those concerning investments, employment, or love - but they all have one thing in common.
The target wants something.
While I think we can agree that scammers are wankers, as hard as it is to swallow, when there is incentive to scam, there will be scammers. As long as there is value on the table, people will look to put it in their pocket, Which means there is a DYOR component to this also. And as said, the target always wants something out of the relationship, it isn't one-sided.
And, while the name comes from fattening pigs for the slaughter, what is pertinent to recognize, is that the pigs are happy to eat along the way. They are not "innocent victims" like those of normal theft, they are willing participants in the scam, which means that they are complicit, and the scam fails without them opting into the process.
They are greedy.
Because they are starved.
The reason that these scams work is because of a cluster of conditions that we have built into society. We have isolated ourselves, disconnected from social groups and society, chosen to be alone, use online dating tools for company, and supported an economy that fails us. We have become people who need a lot, but think that we can do it "by ourselves". And it is this that the confidence scam prays on, our greed, and our desire to go it alone, so we don't consult friends or family, we don't even check online for whether there are similar experiences from others.
Are we idiots?
Yes.
We aren't just idiots for falling for scams, we are idiots for not recognizing that the society and culture we have built doesn't actually satisfy our human needs. While we keep telling ourselves and whoever will listen how happy we are, the spread and success of these scams tell a different story. In the quest for individualism, we have ended up isolating ourselves, and isolation for a social animal isn't a strength, it is a weakness. We have diluted the very thing that has made us strong to the point our skill is now a risk, a weak link in our abilities, an attack vector.
We can lay blame on the scammer and it is a shame that there are scammers at all, but they are a symptom of much larger problems, not the cause of it. They usually use crypto and exchanges to launder their money, and many blame crypto for providing the opportunity, but crypto itself is a symptom of a much, much larger problem - a fundamentally broken and unbalanced economy.
Nothing lives in a vacuum.
However, it is much easier and gets far more clicks to look at the visible problems at the end of the chain, then to look at all the complexity that led to the outcome upstream. This is what the media, governments and corporations do, because it provides mechanisms for control and profitmaking.
The best defense against scams like Pig Butchering, is to understand personal desires, and have a healthy dose of skepticism in regards to people willing to fulfill our needs. But more than this, we need to have built mechanisms to protect us from misaligned incentives, and in this case, a quality network of people around us that we can consult when we need, and who will look out for us when we might be blinded by something that if it looks too good to be true.
It probably is.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
In the series Hustle, the team specializing in the long con operates with the idea that you can’t cheat an honest man.
Oh - that is a great way to look at it!
The problem is depending on the network, you still might not listen. Just look at the number of cat fishing schemes where the family members have told the person they are being scammed, but they are so in love that they can't even admit it to themselves. Even though in the back of their minds they know it is true. It's pretty sad.
It is sad. I think it also speaks to the way we have built our families and social networks. They aren't relationships of trust as much anymore.
I wonder what confidence scams looked like 150 years ago.
Yeah, that is a good point. If you can't trust your family who can you trust?!
I hope that I build a family that is trustworthy.
It sounds like you are well in your way from what I read.
In the delicate dance of deception, the swindler and the swindled move to the beat of a bitter melody. The swindler, with his charming smile and golden promises, weaves a web of illusions, while the swindled, blinded by the glitter of hope (gold), falls into the trap. But in this game of shadows, the balance hangs in the balance; for every lie uncovered weighs on the conscience of the trickster, and every truth revealed strengthens the deceived. In the end, the trickster may win the battle, but he faces eternal war against his own reflection, and the conned, though wounded, may find strength in the scar of betrayal. It's simply a never-ending tale, don't you think?
It still comes down to incentive and also the way people view their actions. Let's assume the swindler isn't one of the human trafficked ones, and doing it at their own volition.
What I have seen, is that they are able to justify their actions by reframing them as a need, or a must. It is like many of the "scammers" here who have partaken in various direct scams, as well as voting on alt accounts, self-voting comments in the background etcetera - they always have an excuse as to why they do it, and should be able to do it. There is a narcissism in it, and narcissists tend to see what they want to see in the mirror, not what is actually there. We are very good at lying to ourselves.
Aye, initially I thought of the process of pigifying ourselves without the help of a second party. More common, even. And pretty hard to avoid all the aspects of it.
My primitive brain (meaning the subconscious), for instance, has always made me feel as if scarcity is always around the corner so hoarding is a matter of survival. It works in passive mode while control requires energy, so it's set to win.
People get scammed mostly because they fail to understand the structure of what they are into. However, enlightening and creating awareness helps people not fall victim to scammers.
This was sth to reflect on! Thank you @tarazkp
Fail to understand the structure, and fail to manage their expectations and emotions well. Rather than taking a step back, they dive in. It is a bit like FOMO.
Scammers are just greedy who always looks to get money of others :(
"a fool and his money are easily parted"
how it can?
Best caption award!
Who says they are happy? I don't know anyone who openly says this. You mean our illusion of the general mood of the country we live in? Any population on the brink of being terrified, like nearly all of us were a few short years ago, is far from happy, and knows it.
Yes! Resist the next scam call to isolate ourselves even further, to protect us from each other. That's the most effective weapon of all. Go out into the streets and dance when next we are told to be afraid - be very afraid - of each other. It's an extremely effective illusion, the frontline is, and always has been, in our minds.
We know someone who last year around January to about may had been a victim of these scams. They gave the scammer about 15 bitcoin I think at the end of the day which is insane considering where the market is today. It’s sad to hear but also goes to the isolationist aspect of it. They didn’t talk to anyone about it until they lost all their money and even then they were in denial - the power of hope and lack of understanding of common sense, or the willful blindness when infatuation is involved. Quite sad!
The sad thing is that the rate of scammers will always increase everyday. We just need to make sure that we do not fall into their hands
That’s the best thing
Skepticism is the right move when dealing with most things now a days. I really hate that it has come to this and we can't trust our follow humans.
If it's too good to be true, it probably is. This is a statement that a lot of people know and use when dealing with scams. It works most of the time, but there are some that want to feel like they're special/lucky and found/approached by a good deal. I think these are the ones that are scammed more easily.
Another saying that I like to keep in mind is: You can't win a lottery if you didn't buy a ticket. So anything that tells me I won something when I don't remember joining anything, makes me think that it is a scam outright. And for those thinking that one can find a winning ticket along the road, that is the scammed mentality I want to avoid.