“Pig butchering” schemes, once considered a niche type of consumer fraud predominantly occurring overseas, have become a source of legal exposure for U.S. financial institutions that facilitate payments authorized by their customers but induced by a scam.
Recent lawsuits, including a high-profile case against HSBC’s U.S. banking arm brought on behalf of an elderly customer, highlight the stakes for any bank that fails to identify and stop such a scheme before the consumer is harmed.