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Pig Butchering Scams as Cyber-Enabled Financial Crime: A Scoping Review of Dimensions, Modus Operandi, and Victim-Offender Dynamics

Gujarathi, Palak ; Verma, Shankey ; Nair, Vipin Vijay (2026) — Deviant Behavior

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DOI: 10.1080/01639625.2026.2677691 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   Global
Tags:   Crypto Laundering, Cyber Enabled Financial Crime, Forensic Analysis, Pig Butchering, Policy Gaps, Romance Scams, Scoping Review, Victim Offender Dynamics
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Synopsis

            
This JBI-guided scoping review, reported under PRISMA-ScR, searched four databases for English-language pig-butchering research published from 2020 through 2025. Twelve of 119 unique records met the criteria. Reflexive thematic analysis organized evidence into five areas: scheme dimensions, modus operandi, victim characteristics, offender characteristics, and outcomes. Across heterogeneous sources, the review describes a hunting, grooming, and butchering lifecycle in which escalating investment demands can deplete savings, force asset sales, or create debt; reported psychological harms include shame, self-blame, depression, and suicidal ideation. The scoping design used no formal risk-of-bias appraisal, and language, date, publication, geographic, and reporting differences limit comprehensiveness and preclude meta-analysis.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
Explicit gaps include limited offender-focused analyses (recruitment pathways, syndicate hierarchies, laundering infrastructures) and incomplete understanding of cross-border regulation and enforcement. The literature also underexploits prevention, victim-support, and long-term recovery strategies, and lacks integrative, cross-disciplinary frameworks linking criminology, cybersecurity, and financial regulation. Additional work is needed on cross-jurisdictional coordination, data-sharing, and empirical data from diverse regions to map transnational networks and their operational dynamics.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
Design/methods: JBI-guided scoping review, PRISMA-ScR. Searches of four databases (Scopus, EBSCOhost, Taylor & Francis Online, Google Scholar) for English-language studies 2020–2025. From 119 unique records, 12 studies met inclusion. Data extraction followed the JBI framework; analysis used reflexive thematic analysis, yielding five themes: dimensions, modus operandi, victim characteristics, offender characteristics, outcomes. No formal quality appraisal due to scoping scope. Data sources included interviews, court records, scam scripts, and blockchain forensics.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
Limitations include absence of formal risk-of-bias appraisal and reliance on heterogeneous, narrative data across designs. Language and time restrictions (English, 2020–2025) may omit relevant work. Varied depth of reporting, potential publication bias toward scholarly sources, and uneven geographic coverage may affect comprehensiveness. Cross-database overlap and no meta-analysis are additional constraints.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Future research should broaden offender-centric analyses (pathways, organizational structures, and laundering networks) and quantify cross-border regulatory and enforcement gaps. Develop integrative theoretical frameworks across criminology, cybersecurity, and financial regulation; evaluate prevention and victim-support interventions; establish standardized datasets and cross-jurisdiction data-sharing; pursue longitudinal studies on recovery and reintegration; assess regulatory responses and enforcement effectiveness; examine AI-generated content and countermeasures to mitigate manipulation and deception.

          

              

    
    

        
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