In short, there are Chinese criminal organizations that have produced fake crypto exchanges, who reach out to men and women via dating apps as well as just randomly texting people or hitting them up on WhatsApp.
I've seen it myself many times, some suspiciously attractive Chinese woman who just casually mentions that they also invest in crypto. They'll talk for a while without asking for anything or pushing anything, they'll present themselves as highly successful business people, maybe even send you gifts to show that they are real. They will research your town and make references to local landmarks and restaurants and such to make it seem as if they are there.
Eventually they will shift the conversation towards crypto investing, which is where I've always dropped out of the conversation because something seems like an obvious scam but it wasn't quite sure how. But apparently they will then show you their portfolio on this fake crypto exchange, and then encourage you to invest alongside them. You will see your portfolio supposedly make a bunch of money, even though your money is gone and you'll never get it back.
Bit by bit they'll encourage you to invest more, and then something will go wrong in their life where they suddenly need your help, and then as a sign of commitment to the relationship will ask you to temporarily make a large investment with the expectation that you get it back immediately.
For example, they might claim that due to some kind of regulation or something, if they don't get $100,000 invested into this exchange very quickly, they will lose far far more. You don't know that they are actually collaborating with this fake exchange, so you think it's just all a legit thing, and you also think that you've been making a bunch of money along the way, and also that they are highly successful business person as well.
Anyway, it's called the pig butchering scam because they will spend a long time "fattening you up" before going in for the kill.
The technological component to the scam, along with the highly organized operation behind it and global scale I think make it pretty interesting.
David