How Much Are Scams Really Costing You? The Numbers Are Shocking

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, many criminal groups especially from China have set up their cyber centers in Southeast Asia where they do fraud operations and online gambling. These centers are often scamming people through “pig butchering” which is a scam done through romantic relationships and crypto exchanges. The attacker approaches a victim through different dating apps or WhatsApp talks to the victim for a long time to find their emotional vulnerabilities.

During the pig butchering scam, most of the scammers use the tactic of pretending to message a wrong number by accident and then start the conversation. They build up the victim’s trust and then encourage them to send them money which can be called “fattening the pig”. The perpetrator tells the victim that he's a crypto expert or wealthy man and asks them to transfer their money to the share market as an investment. They do this until all money of the victim gets drained which can be metaphorically said as “slaughtered”.

Findings by Chain Analysis suggest that in the past four years, victims have lost about $75.3 billion to pig butchering and it has become more common than Ponzi schemes. Another interesting thing is that most of the time the perpetrators of pig butchering are victims themselves who get trafficked and forced to do these scans by organized gangs, especially in regions of Myanmar.

According to Global Anti-Scam Alliance, these scams are getting very common and a survey of 58,329 people in 2924 suggest that almost half of the world's population has experienced a scam once a week. 84% of the people from China said that they are more likely to recognize a scam. There are different ways to do a scam, from text/SMS messages to calls and now WhatsApp scams are also increasing a lot in different areas of the world. Overall, $1.03 trillion have been lost to these scams in 2024 alone, with the US experiencing the most financial loss ($3520 per victim) because of these scams. In Denmark, $3067 were lost because of these scams in 2024 while Slovakia lost $2738 per person. GASA also reported that 4.2% of Pakistan’s GDP had been lost to these scams while Kenya lost 3.6% of its GDP and South Africa lost 3.4% of its GDP. On the other hand, Germany and France just experienced 0.2% GDP loss due to these scams in 2024.

As these scams become increasingly sophisticated, it’s crucial to stay vigilant. If you’re ever approached by someone claiming expertise in areas like crypto, particularly through messaging apps, be cautious. Avoid sharing personal details too quickly or getting pulled into emotional appeals, especially if they swiftly move toward financial requests. Always verify the identity of individuals before trusting them with any investment or financial transaction.

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Country	Average Loss per Victim (USD)
United States (US)	$3520
Denmark (DK)	$3067
Switzerland (CH)	$2980
South Korea (SK)	$2738
Singapore (SG)	$2428
Japan (JP)	$2334
United Kingdom (UK)	$1818
New Zealand (NZ)	$1854
Ireland (IRL)	$1839
China (CHN)	$1578
Malaysia (MY)	$1570
Germany (GER)	$1408
Thailand (TH)	$1106
Russia (RUS)	$678
India (IN)	$384
Pakistan (PK)	$287
Kenya (KEN)	$209
Nigeria (NG)	$119

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World