Definitely sympathizes the victims even more. I had been thinking that these were 1-2 month, ham-fisted operations: establish contact and rush to grab the cash from the gullible rube. To string along the target for a year shows dedication completely separate from the pedestrian scams you normally encounter.

> To string along the target for a year shows dedication completely separate from the pedestrian scams you normally encounter.

presumably this is where the name comes from, no?

you spend a year fattening the pig, before you butcher it, hence pig butchering schemes.

I happened across the "Tinder Swindler" video on Netflix the other day, and I was shocked at how elaborate these scams can get. Always thought I'd catch onto this stuff, but...

Imagine: you meet someone online. You talk for a while, and decide to meet up for dinner. They say nothing, but upon googling them (for safety, of course) you discover they're the son of a billionaire - a weapons or diamonds magnate or something to that effect.

Anyways, the day of the date comes around and a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom comes to pick you up, then drops you off at a private jet. You go to one of the highest end restaurants in the continent. You're experiencing a probably $20,000 night between tips, booze, food, and entertainment. You're showered in expensive gifts over weeks and weeks - honestly, where is all this money coming from, if not his pocket? He's a billionaire! You see him checking into hotels all around Europe, but you mention you miss him so he flies in just to get coffee with you for an hour. He's clearly head-over-heels for you.

tl;dr he has a scheme where he's got some photos of his guard roughed up, and a little blood on the "swindler", which aren't shown until the woman is deeply infatuated with him. It's a very urgent problem - some business competitors are out to get him, and they're tracking his cards. Can you please take out a loan for $50,000 and send it? It's okay if the bank won't normally approve that - I'll "employ you" and send over a paystub showing you make over $90,000/month! That loan gets approved instantly. You take out a few more because you want your boyfriend of 6 months to survive of course.

You're simply funding his night out with his next target. It's a rotating scam. Pretty insane to me.

That's the ones i've encountered

I mean a lot of the investment scams you see on places like Reddit - like the "testing the network" crypto scam - are pretty hamfisted. People still fall for them though.