Interpol has recently launched a campaign urging industry commentators to reconsider the use of the term “pig butchering” in reference to cyber-enabled financial crimes. The policing group argues that this term stigmatizes victims and may discourage them from reporting incidents.
The term “pig butchering” is used to describe a type of cybercrime where scammers target victims on romance sites, building trust with them before deceiving them into investing in fake schemes. Interpol’s new campaign, named “Think Twice,” aims to educate consumers about these types of scams.
The Chinese term “shazhupan,” which translates to “killing pig game,” is the origin of the term “pig butchering.” However, Interpol suggests that “romance baiting” would be a more appropriate and less dehumanizing term to use.
According to Interpol, using terms like “romance baiting” shifts the focus back to the perpetrators and their manipulative tactics, rather than portraying victims as helpless farm animals awaiting slaughter. Interpol’s acting executive director of police services, Cyril Gout, emphasizes the importance of language in showing respect and empathy towards fraud victims.
Elisabeth Carter, an associate professor of criminology and forensic linguistics at Kingston University London, supports Interpol’s stance, highlighting the parallels between fraudsters’ tactics and those of perpetrators of domestic abuse and coercive control.
While the FBI does not yet categorize “romance baiting” as a separate type of fraud, investment fraud was the top-earning cybercrime category last year, bringing in over $4.5 billion for criminals. Romance and confidence fraud resulted in victim losses exceeding $652 million.
In response to Interpol’s recommendation, Infosecurity Magazine plans to revise its editorial policy to incorporate the term “romance baiting” while still referencing “pig butchering” to avoid confusion as the new terminology gains traction in the cybersecurity community.