Bitcoin Adviser Reveals Client's Retirement Funds Lost to AI-Driven Romance Scam
Terence Michael, a Bitcoin wealth adviser with The Bitcoin Adviser, shared the story of an unnamed client who fell victim to a pig butchering scam, losing his Bitcoin retirement funds. The client, recently divorced, was contacted online by a woman posing as a trader who promised to double his BTC and established a romantic relationship. He even bought a plane ticket for the scammer and had recently left Coinbase to set up a distributed multi-key security and inheritance protocol. Despite numerous calls and texts from the adviser attempting to halt the transfers, the client confirmed the funds were gone while at dinner.
Pig butchering scams use emotional manipulation and fake identities, often incorporating AI-generated images. In 2024 alone, such scams drained about $5.5 billion from around 200,000 reported victims. This surge has attracted increased law enforcement action; notably, in June the US Department of Justice seized more than $225 million in cryptocurrency linked to pig butchering operations.
A 2025 Anti-Scam Research Report, co-authored by Bitget, SlowMist, and Elliptic, revealed that AI-driven crypto scams amounted to $4.6 billion in 2024. These schemes included deepfake impersonations, fake video calls, and Trojan-infected job offers. At least 87 AI-powered scam rings were dismantled in the first quarter of 2025.
Criminal groups are now employing cross-chain bridges and obfuscation tools to launder stolen funds, complicating recovery efforts and shifting the threat landscape increasingly toward AI-powered scams.
