North Dakotans Beware: New ‘Pig Butchering’ Dating Scam Getting The Best Of Us

Many of us have decided to start looking for love via dating apps. --If not for love, at least for a good time. If you decide to use dating apps, be aware, there are a lot of scams out there.

Not So Painfully Obvious

I’m sure when you read about some of these scams, you've thought yourself, "Wow that’s obvious. I would never fall for that."

Yes, generally, we know not to give anyone money over the internet or phone, but things are getting so creative and seem so authentic, it's hard to be sure anymore.

AI Dating Scam

There’s one new dating scam that may just fool you. It’s called "Pig Butchering."

According to ABC 10, the term comes from fattening "Pigs" up, then later "Butchering" them... financially.

Essentially, scammers are using AI to create unique dating profiles and using that to make a profit.

They might not even ask you for money outright; they might just casually bring up how they've made money on some crypto investment to pique your interest, ultimately starting the ploy.

Once they get you to warm up to them, they try to trick you into handing over your money, but not to them directly.

Fun Fact: In 2022, romance scams resulted in a loss of $1.3 billion according to the US Federal Trade Commission.

Protection Is Out There

Just when you thought AI couldn’t get any more creepy, it’s now preying on people looking for love. That said, there is a new process Tinder unveiled to protect users from AI scammers; It requires users to provide a video selfie and a valid drivers license or passport to make sure the face in the video selfie matches the photo on your day, which matches the photos uploaded to your profile.

This is good to know, but how awful is it that scammers are taking an already sketchy and sensitive situation and turning it into an even more sketchy, embarrassing, and heartbreaking situation.

Be careful out there!