Researchers Uncover Service Providers Fueling Industrial-Scale Pig Butchering Fraud
Jan 12, 2026
Crimeware / Malware
Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on two service providers that supply online criminal networks with the necessary tools and infrastructure to fuel the pig butchering-as-a-service (PBaaS) economy. At least since 2016, Chinese-speaking criminal groups have erected industrial-scale scam centers across Southeast Asia, creating special economic zones that are devoted to fraudulent investment and impersonation operations. These compounds are host to thousands of people who are lured with the promise of high-paying jobs, only to have their passports and be forced to conduct scams under the threat of violence. INTERPOL has characterized these networks as human trafficking-fuelled fraud on an industrial scale. One of the crucial drivers of the pig butchering (aka romance baiting) scams is service providers who supply the networks with all the tools to run and manage social engineering operations, as well as swiftly launder stolen funds and cryptocurrencies and move ill-gotten p...