A scoping review of online romance scams: Conceptual construction and comparative analysis
Wang, Fangzhou (2026) — International Review of Victimology
Type: Journal Article
Country: Global
Tags: victim experience, offender tactics, psychology, platform policy, money mules, prevention, scoping review, online romance scams, AFRS, InvRS, pig-butchering, typology, victim vulnerabilities, cross-border policy, PRISMA, cross-language synthesis, victimology, cross-cultural, transnational crime
This scoping review synthesizes findings from a body of 62 empirical investigations to construct a framework that differentiates two primary forms of online romance scams: advance fee romance scams and investment-based r...
An Anatomy of ‘Pig Butchering Scams’: Chinese Victims’ and Police Officers’ Perspectives
Han, Bing; Button, Mark (2025) — Deviant Behavior
Type: Journal Article
Country: United Kingdom
This article analyzes the hybrid romance–investment scam known as “pig butchering” (Sha Zhu Pan, 杀猪盘) from the perspectives of Chinese victims and police officers. Unlike traditional romance scams, pig butchering fuse...
Mental Health Impacts of Cybercrime
Burrell, Darrell (2025) — International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security
Type: Journal Article
Country: United States
Tags: victim experience, psychology, platform policy, money mules, prevention, measurement
As online dating continues to evolve, deceptive practices have grown in breadth and sophistication, spanning from classic catfishing to more systemic forms such as pig-butchering and Intimacy Manipulated Fraud Industrial...
Understanding the Characteristics of Pig Butchering Scams: Impact on Victims and Challenges for Law Enforcement in Indonesia
Aissyach, Aissyach Noor Chairinovadanti; Sigid, Sigid Suseno; Budi, Budi Arta Atmaja (2025) — KRTHA BHAYANGKARA
Type: Journal Article
Country: Indonesia
Tags: victim experience, offender tactics, law enforcement, platform policy, money mules, AI misuse, online dating platforms, cross-cultural
The study analyzes the pig-butchering scam, a cyber-enabled form of investment fraud that has expanded rapidly in Indonesia since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also known as Sha Zhu Pan, this manipulative scheme bl...
Analysis of "Pig-Butchering Scam" Type of Network Fraud from the Legal Perspective
Fu, Zhenglang (2024) — Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Type: Journal Article
Country: China
Tags: victim experience, AI misuse
This paper examines pig-butchering scams (Sha Zhu Pan) from a legal perspective, focusing on their causes, operation, challenges for China’s legal system, and possible countermeasures. Pig-butchering scams are distinguis...
Victim-offender overlap: the identity transformations experienced by trafficked Chinese workers escaping from pig-butchering scam syndicate
Wang, Fangzhou (2024) — Trends in Organized Crime
Type: Journal Article
Country: United States
Tags: victim experience, offender tactics, platform policy, AI misuse, social engineering, prevention
This study explores the intersection of human trafficking and online romance fraud within the context of the pig-butchering scam (Sha Zhu Pan, 杀猪盘). While the scam is widely recognized for combining romance and invest...
The Unpreventable Emotional Telecom Fraud —— "Pig-Butchering Scam"
Jiang, HN.; Wang, CH.; Duan, ZZ. (2023) — Scholars Bulletin
Type: Journal Article
Country: China
Tags: victim experience, psychology, AI misuse, measurement, cross-cultural
The body of fraud literature documents a shift from traditional offline schemes to online telecom-based deception, with pig-butchering scams emerging as a notable example. This form has been highlighted as one of the ten...
