FBI Says Illinois Widow Lost Million Bucks in Pig Fattening Scam

Whoever is responsible for this should be punished with everything the law allows. A widow in Illinois lost $1 million dollars in what the FBI describes as a "pig fattening and butchering" scam.

This terrible situation was just shared by Yahoo Finance. It's the life story of Erika DeMask who lives in Lombard, Illinois. The FBI says that her husband passed away decades ago and she recently had been contacted by a man online who claimed he loved her. He claimed that he worked on an oil rig and had needs, plus investment opportunities for her.

They quoted Erika DeMask as saying ""He said that he loved me...Once, he sent me a huge bouquet of flowers and [later] the FBI said they were shocked that he did that.”

The FBI says that after winning her affections, he asked for $20,000 to help repair the oil rig he worked on. He would go on to claim that his pastor was sending him a quarter million dollars and wanted to know if she could match it. Sadly, she did.

By the time Erika realized she had been scammed, her losses surpassed $1 million dollars. 

The FBI refers to this type of scam as "pig fattening and butchering" because they say the villains fatten up the victim with praise and promises of romance before "butchering" their bank account for all it's worth.

The FBI has a hotline if you've sent money to someone before realizing it's a scam. Even if you're unable to recover your financial losses, your report may save someone else the heartbreak and financial pain.