Bitcoin investor loses retirement fund in AI-fueled romance scam

A Bitcoin investor lost his retirement savings to a “pig butchering” scam after ignoring repeated warnings from his advisory firm, according to an account shared by a Bitcoin wealth adviser.

Terence Michael, an adviser and author who works with The Bitcoin Adviser, said in a post on X that an unnamed client transferred his Bitcoin (BTC) to a scammer after being targeted by a woman who posed as a trader and promised to double his holdings.

Michael said the scammer also claimed to be in love with the investor, a common tactic in pig butchering schemes, which rely on emotional manipulation rather than direct hacks.

Despite “numerous phone calls” and a “string of text messages,” Michael was unable to persuade his client not to send the Bitcoin to the scammer.

“My client was falling for a pig butchering scam,” Michael said Sunday. “And as of last night while out to dinner, I received a devastating text message from him saying he had lost it all.”

Source: Terence MichaelUnlike traditional hacks, pig butchering scams rely on emotionally manipulating the victims into willingly sending their investments to the attackers, often through the false promise of a romantic relationship.

Alongside losing his hard-earned Bitcoin retirement stash, the recently-divorced investor had also bought the scammer a plane ticket, expecting to meet a woman. After the funds were sent, the attacker admitted that the photos used in the relationship were fake and had been generated using artificial intelligence tools, Michael said.

Related: Bitcoin swings above $94K as crypto faces ‘Netscape’ moment: Finance Redefined

Pig butchering scams soar to national threat, after stealing $5.5 billion in crypto in 2024

Pig butchering scams have become a major problem for cryptocurrency holders, costing the industry a collective $5.5 billion in 2024, across 200,000 individual cases.

As a subset of phishing scams, the average grooming period for victims is between one and two weeks in 35% of cases, while 10% of scams involve grooming periods of up to three months, according to blockchain security platform Cyvers.

Pig butchering victim stats, grooming time. Source: CyversRelated: Crypto speculation at 2024 lows as TradFi leveraged ETFs hit record $239B

Earlier in November, Chainalysis warned that pig butchering scams are becoming a national security concern.

“Once this happens to you, you will be put on a list […] and you are even more likely to get hit up again,” said Andrew Fierman, head of national security intelligence at Chainalysis, during a podcast episode in November 2025.

In June, the US Department of Justice announced the seizure of over $225 million in crypto linked to pig butchering scams.

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