Chinese-language crime syndicates scale pig-butchering romance scams with PBaaS and fake trading sites
On January 12 2026, cybersecurity researchers detailed how Chinese-speaking criminal syndicates have spent nearly a decade building pig-butchering romance scams into a commoditized, service-based industry across Southeast Asia. The report describes large compounds of forced labor, plug-and-play PBaaS toolkits, fake trading platforms, phishing apps and crimeware services like Penguin that sell stolen identities and social media accounts. These infrastructures collectively support industrial-scale online fraud and global money laundering operations.
