Interpol says people don’t report scams online for fear of being called pigs

The term “pig slaughter” has successfully raised public awareness of online scams that can drain people of their savings and financial livelihood. Unfortunately, the term has failed to make people come forward and report these crimes, partly because no victim wants to be called a “pig”, according to Interpol.

Interpol (who are technically pigs too, if you think about it) is asking governments and organizations to stop using pig slaughter as a catchall term for online scams. The primary reason: the phrase, while evocative and attention-grabbing, places blame on victims rather than criminals. It makes sense given the origin of the phrase, which didn’t come from law enforcement or cybersecurity experts, but by the scammers themselves.

Instead of the slaughter of pigs, which has become a large umbrella term, Interpol recommends using a more specific language that focuses on the actions of the criminal actors instead of the victims. For example, terms like “investment scam” or “romantic” more accurately define the fraud that is committed and do not place additional stigma on the people who are preyed upon.

Little as change may seem, it can make a difference. Language is loaded in all sorts of ways that we cannot fathom. For example: saying that a person “reports” a crime instead of saying that “alleges” a crime happened can provide comfort for the reporter. By “report” it suggests that it happened, while “alleging” a crime suggests a level of doubt. Studies they also found that the language used to describe someone involved in a crime can lead to more negative associations. When a person is referred to as a “felon”, people are more likely to have negative reactions to them, while a “person with a criminal conviction” produces more positive responses.

All that said, it’s not too hard to understand why people who have had their bank accounts siphoned to zero would rather not be called “pigs” who have been fattened for slaughter by a gentle scammer.

If Interpol’s change in language results in more reports of criminal activity, that’s a win. Americans will be defrauded of more than $10 billion in 2023, according to the FTCincluding $4.6 billion in investment scams and $1.14 billion from romance bait. The FBI found that online scams increased by 22% by 2022 and is probably still growing thanks to more and more cybercriminals using AI tools to make his schemes.

Ideally, more reports of these scams help agencies like Interpol crackdown on the perpetrators, who have created more victims than just those who steal money. Report from the Wall Street Journal and Wired they highlighted the work behind some of these scams is carried out by people who have been trafficked and forced to work or face beatings and torture.