CNBC: That Simple 'Hi' Text from a Stranger Could Be the Start of a Scam That Ends Up Costing You Millions

The road to Kaimi’s ruin started in December, with an Instagram message about a Japanese monkey from a handsome stranger who called himself Mike. Over the coming months “Mike” and Kaimi would develop a friendship that quickly evolved into a romance.

Kaimi had no idea he had become ensnared in a romance scam known as “pig butchering,” from the Chinese phrase sha zhu pan — the name coming from the idea that scammers must “fatten up” victims first with flattery and fake bonding before stealing their money.

Experts told CNBC it’s easy to dismiss victims of these scams as ignorant or foolish but doing so discounts how manipulative the scammers are.

Matt Friedman is the CEO of the Mekong Club, a Hong Kong-based organization that works with corporations to fight modern slavery. “Ten scams come by, and they’re very clearly a scam,” Friedman told CNBC. “But the 11th one, I may even fall for it.”

The scam often starts with a simple text message: “Hi!”