# Pig butchering

Pig butchering is a long-con investment scam in which the fraudster builds a relationship with the victim, then steers them to a fake trading or investment platform that shows invented profits.

## How it works

Contact starts through a dating app, wrong-number message or social network. Weeks later the victim is introduced to a platform, makes small deposits and sees growing balances.

Withdrawals are blocked by invented taxes or fees until the victim stops paying; the platform domains are rotated often.

## Example from the PhishDestroy database

- [axonix-core365.click](https://phishdestroy.io/domain/axonix-core365.click/): Fake investment or exchange platform domain, first detected 2026-10-22.
- [avvio-finevox-soft.com](https://phishdestroy.io/domain/avvio-finevox-soft.com/): Fake investment or exchange platform domain, first detected 2026-10-22.
- [axel-fundevoplatform.com](https://phishdestroy.io/domain/axel-fundevoplatform.com/): Fake investment or exchange platform domain, first detected 2026-10-22.

## How to protect yourself

- Be suspicious of online contacts who bring up investing; check the platform's licence with the regulator.
- Never pay a fee to withdraw your own money.

## Related tools

- [Scam Triage Wizard](https://phishdestroy.io/developer-tools/scam-triage-wizard)
- [Phishing Wallet Lookup](https://phishdestroy.io/developer-tools/phishing-wallet-lookup)

## Related terms

- [Recovery scam](https://phishdestroy.io/glossary/recovery-scam/)

## Further reading

- [TheProject: $10M Scam Mentorship Empire](https://phishdestroy.io/theproject-scam-empire)
- [Scam Teams: MercuryTeam, WasabiSquad, 717Team](https://phishdestroy.io/scam-team-operations)

## Glossary

- [All terms](https://phishdestroy.io/glossary/)

Canonical: https://phishdestroy.io/glossary/pig-butchering/