Read the sickening text messages that cost a 75-year-old man his entire $715,000 savings.

• The man wants to raise awareness about so-called “pig butchery” scams.
• He was targeted last year and has now lost all his savings.

A 75-year-old man has shared the heartbreaking text messages that cost him his entire $715,000 savings in a sickening “pig butchery” scam that lasted months.

The man, who did not want to be named, told the Wall Street Journal how the elaborate scheme convinced him that a young woman had fallen in love with him and needed his help.

The scam began in May last year when a woman posing as a lonely but successful 37-year-old Chinese woman living in San Francisco sent him a message on LinkedIn.

Over the next three months, she convinced him to transfer all of his savings to a fake trading platform, promising that they could marry and live together using the ROI from his investment.

Once he depleted all his assets – and those of his partner – the woman stopped responding to his messages and his money disappeared.

The man is a 75-year-old professional living in the American Midwest.

He is one of millions of people around the world who are targeted in so-called pig butchering scams, in which strangers seduce vulnerable and lonely people online, building trust and convincing them to invest money in false schemes.

Once the money is collected, the scammers – most of whom pose as beautiful young women – disappear.

In reality, many of the scammers are men based in compounds run by Chinese criminal syndicates in parts of Southeast Asia and West Africa, according to the Journal.

Many scammers are victims of trafficking themselves and are trained and given phones and scripts to follow up with their targets under threat of violence.

In this case, the woman contacted the man via LinkedIn, exchanging pleasantries before suggesting he move to WhatsApp.

The man told her he had a modest retirement fund but still worked full time and lived with his partner of 40 years, who he said he had separated from.

She sent him photos of herself at luxury restaurants, shopping and traveling and told him she had left China for the United States eight years earlier.

She said she was lonely and longed for a companion and was just looking for true love.

They bonded over their love of food, travel, fitness and pets and she sent him detailed descriptions of her meals and workouts.

They had a few brief voice calls and a video call at first – likely taken by a model at one of the resorts – but then communicated only via text.

Once they established a relationship, she began telling him about her “uncle’s” business, which she said had made his fortune trading gold futures on a platform called FX6.

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Over the next three months, she manipulated and cajoled the man into transferring $715,000 to the platform, which then disappeared.

She advised him to open an account and transfer the money, promising: “We will be very happy in the future… I really thank God for allowing me to meet you.”

Meanwhile, reassuring him that he could “trust me,” the two planned a road trip together that she said they could take using the returns on his investments.

When he doubted her or asked why he needed to transfer the money, she made him feel guilty by saying, “Your distrust of me has once again made me feel the fickleness of men.”

As the amounts he transferred to the program increased, his bank began warning him that he might be a victim of the scam, but with its help, he ignored the bank and continued making payments more important.

He sold his shares and took out a loan to meet the increasing payments.

Then, when he told her he had nothing left to invest, she disappeared.

He sent her desperate messages, begging her to respond and explain what had happened.

In one, he said: “Do me a favor and shoot me.” I have no reason to live. No money, no family and no soul mate.

She did not answer.

He reported her to the FBI, but his report came up empty. The FBI told the Journal that complaints are investigated and forwarded to appropriate law enforcement.

He didn’t get his money back and eventually accepted it was a scam.

He now wants to raise awareness of these schemes and make people understand how easy it is to be targeted. He told the Journal: “She hooked me. »