Interpol has urged using the term "romance baiting" instead of "pig butchering" to refer to online schemes that leverage romantic relationships to facilitate fraudulent cryptocurrency investments, reports The Hacker News.
While the dehumanizing nature of "pig butchering" has prevented individuals targeted by such schemes from reporting victimization, Interpol noted that "romance baiting" focuses on the threat actors and the psychological triggers they used against their victims.
"Words matter. We've seen this in the areas of violent sexual offenses, domestic abuse, and online child exploitation. We need to recognize that our words also matter to the victims of fraud. It's time to change our language to prioritize respect and empathy for the victims, and to hold fraudsters accountable for their crimes," said Interpol Acting Executive Director of Police Services Cyril Gout.
Such a development comes after Google noted referring to such attacks as "international online consumer investment fraud schemes."
