{"podcast":{"title":"Lock and Code","slug":"lock-and-code-112850","podcast_index_feed_id":112850,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/lock-and-code/","website_url":"https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/category/podcast","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/3f215aa3-b1b3-45b6-8738-ac92b2482318/Lock-and-Code-Logo-2025-Refresh.png","author":"Malwarebytes","episode_count":161,"summary":"Lock and Code tells the human stories within cybersecurity, privacy, and technology. Rogue robot vacuums, hacked farm tractors, and catastrophic software vulnerabilities—it’s all here.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lock-and-code-112850"},"episode":{"title":"Pig butchering is the next “humanitarian global crisis” (feat. Erin West)","slug":"pig-butchering-is-the-next-humanitarian-global-crisis-feat-erin-west","published_at":"2025-12-14T18:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lock-and-code-112850/pig-butchering-is-the-next-humanitarian-global-crisis-feat-erin-west","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lock-and-code-112850","url":"https://lock-and-code.captivate.fm/episode/pig-butchering-is-the-next-humanitarian-global-crisis-feat-erin-west","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/7c6b11ce-2306-4d6a-9bf6-77540049546e.mp3","summary":"This is the story of the world’s worst scam and how it is being used to fuel entire underground economies that have the power to rival nation-states across the globe. This is the story of “pig butchering.” “Pig butchering” is a violent term that is used to describe a growing type of online investment scam that has ruined the lives of countless victims all across the world. No age group is spared, nearly no country is untouched, and, if the numbers are true,  with more than $6.5 billion stolen in 2024 alone , no scam might be more serious today, than this. Despite this severity, like many types of online fraud today, most pig-butchering scams start with a simple “hello.” Sent through text or as a direct message on social media platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram, or elsewhere, these initial communications are often framed as simple mistakes—a kind stranger was given your number by accident, and if you reply, you’re given a kind apology and a simple lure: “You seem like such a kind person… where are you from?” Here, the scam has already begun. Pig butchers, like romance scammers, build emotional connections with their victims. For months, their messages focus on everyday life, from family to children to marriage to work. But, with time, once the scammer believes they’ve gained the trust of their victim, they launch their attack: An investment “opportunity.” Pig butchers tell their victims that they’ve personally struck it rich by investing in cryptocurrency, and they want to share the wealth. Here, the scammers will lead their victims through opening an entirely bogus investment account, which is made to look real through sham websites that are littered with convincing tickers, snazzy analytics, and eye-popping financial returns. When the victims “invest” in these…","meta_description":"This is the story of the world’s worst scam and how it is being used to fuel entire underground economies that have the power to rival nation-states acros…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2653,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lock-and-code-112850/episodes/pig-butchering-is-the-next-humanitarian-global-crisis-feat-erin-west/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lock-and-code-112850/pig-butchering-is-the-next-humanitarian-global-crisis-feat-erin-west.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}