Victims like Jaya turn into scammers themselves while they set out to seek other targets and leave them devastated.

Pig butchering scams have left hundreds of thousands of individuals with losses estimated at billions of rupiahs. The NGO Global AntiScam Org (GASO) connected with 1,483 victims worldwide who have suffered US$256 million in losses. This number, as of April 2022, averages to $173,000 per victim.

In July 2022, GASO’s survey of 550 victims showed that 67 percent of the respondents were women aged 25-40 of whom 32 percent had graduate degrees.  

The survey further showed that 41 percent of the victims met their scammers through social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, with most victims being unfamiliar with how regulated brokers work. GASO has found scam websites, such as 45trades.com and 44optionsfx.com among many others. Currently, GASO has list of over 153 pages of scam websites.

Beware: Pig butchering scams often happen when scammers are able to build trust and by promising a large sum of money before disappearing and leaving the victims with nothing. (Pexels/cottonbro studio) (Pexels/cottonbro studio)

Unfortunately, not many Indonesian victims report their case to the authorities. Jan Santiago, GASO’s deputy director, said as of Nov. 15, only 37 victims from Indonesia had reported a scam. Some have chosen to participate in a support group on Telegram coordinated by 42-year-old financial influencer Roy Shakti from Malang, East Java, to give support to the victims.

The online friend

One victim of the pig butchering scam is Lie Lie, a 41-year-old mother of three based in Surabaya, who chooses to go by her Chinese name. She lost $150,000 in the scam.

On Nov. 21, 2021, Lie received a direct message on Instagram from a 36-year-old Chinese man named Yang Sì Yuang who lived in Paris. Very often, pig butchering scammers do not use their real name and steal someone else’s identification on social media. As someone who has studied abroad for seven years, Lie was excited to have a conversation with a man who seemingly understood her and thus they began to chat regularly beginning on Dec. 6, 2021. Lie described herself as not being social media savvy, so she did not suspect that Sì Yuang was a swindler.

Two weeks later, their relationship deepened. Sì Yuang asked for Lie’s number and they communicated more intensely by call and chat, in which the man’s knowledge impressed Lie.

“We were so connected. He asked a lot of things about Indonesia, so I was really happy and proud to share about it [Indonesia],” Lie said to The Jakarta Post via Telegram message.

Their conversation became more personal. Sì Yuang began to flirt with Lie and asked about her personal life, including her relationship with her husband. Sì Yuang even promised Lie that he would move, along with his 20 employees, from Paris to Surabaya to set up an office and so eventually the two began a relationship.

“Later he would tell me that as a woman, I need to be financially independent. Then he said he would teach me how to invest,” Lie further said. Sì Yuang lured Lie with his lavish lifestyle, showing off a sports car and a penthouse in the fashion capital on social media. Lie decided to invest Rp 200 million ($12,925) on an investment site called m.potex8.com. 

“I was able to retrieve 15 to 20 percent profit. I fell for the trick right away,” Lie said.

It signified the beginning of her own downfall. She fell into the trap of trusting Sì Yuang. As someone who never had experience in the trading world and was not familiar with social media scams, Lie found nothing suspicious. In Lie’s mind, Sì Yuang was someone who was very supportive of his friends and encouraged them on how to be independent.

In the dark: Some pig butchering scam victims have experienced depression due to the loss of their money, most of which were their life savings. (Pexels/Kat Smith) (Pexels/Kat Smith)

“I never thought that someone would be that evil to trick others,” said Lie.

On Dec. 30, 2021, Sì Yuang promised Lie that if she could invest another $100,000 within ten days, she would get a bonus. Sì Yuang referred Lie to the customer service of a crypto investment website, where she invested $50,000, and said he would help her with the other $50,000. Hypnotized by the success that Sì Yuang had promised, Lie sold some of her valuable items and her jewelry pieces and took out her children’s savings. However, on Jan. 10, 2022, one day before the investment deadline, Sì Yuang told Lie that he could not help her.

Fall to depression

Lie’s bank account was frozen and she could no longer withdraw any money.

Left with a huge debt and mentally pressured, she often channeled her anger on her children when they failed to obtain good scores.

"I felt mentally pressured and I often channeled my anger to my kids. I lashed out when they failed to get a good score," Lie said.

“It sounds repetitive, but do not make an investment if you don’t have any experience in it. Learn before you invest,” Roy Shakti said.