Romance baiting, cryptorom and ‘pig butchering’: an evolutionary step in romance fraud

Abstract

Romance fraud uses the guise of a genuine relationship to deceive a victim into transferring often large amounts of money to an offender/s. Romance fraud has been in the top three categories of financial loss for Australian victims over the past decade, and this is a trend mirrored internationally. However, in recent years there has been a convergence of romance fraud and investment fraud approaches. Terms such as romance baiting, cryptorom and ‘pig butchering' have all emerged to describe how offenders are evolving in their attempts to defraud victims through offering fake cryptocurrency investment opportunities, using a relationship as the mechanism. This article analyses this shift in romance fraud offending and its embracing of investment scheme opportunities. It highlights the underlying reasons for the success of this amalgamated approach and further demonstrates how it potentially distorts the reporting of fraud as well as prevention messaging targeting these incidents.