An American woman fell victim to a cryptocurrency "pig-butchering" scam, losing nearly $1 million.

2025-12-09 02:43:36

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According to TechFlow, on December 9, Decrypt reported that a woman in San Jose, California, became aware she was a victim of a cryptocurrency “pig-butchering” scam that cost her nearly $1 million only after consulting ChatGPT.

The victim, Margaret Loke, met a man identifying himself as “Ed” on Facebook in May this year. He claimed to be a wealthy businessman and gradually established an emotional connection with her. “Ed” then guided her to invest in cryptocurrency. Loke transferred over $490,000 from her retirement account, and took out a $300,000 home equity loan to invest as well.

When the so-called crypto account was suddenly “frozen” and “Ed” demanded an additional $1 million to unfreeze the funds, Loke described the situation to ChatGPT. ChatGPT responded that the scenario matched the pattern of a known scam and advised her to contact the police. Investigations revealed that the funds were transferred to a Malaysian bank account and withdrawn by the scammer.

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