TechFlow news, December 9 — According to Decrypt, a woman from San Jose, California, realized she had fallen victim to a cryptocurrency "pig-butchering" scam only after consulting ChatGPT, having lost nearly $1 million.
The victim, Margaret Loke, met a man on Facebook in May who introduced himself as "Ed," claiming to be a wealthy businessman and gradually building an emotional connection. "Ed" then directed her to invest in cryptocurrencies. Loke transferred over $490,000 from her retirement accounts and an additional $300,000 through a home equity loan.
When the supposed cryptocurrency account was suddenly "frozen" and "Ed" demanded an extra $1 million to unfreeze the funds, Loke described the situation to ChatGPT. ChatGPT responded that the scenario matched known scam patterns and advised her to contact law enforcement. Investigations revealed the money had been transferred to bank accounts in Malaysia and withdrawn by the scammers.
