According to CBS News, Kyle Holder, a 73-year-old woman from New York, lost all of her $300,000 retirement savings in three months after replying to a WhatsApp message that advertised a crypto investment course.

A WhatsApp message turns into a costly crypto scam

Holder got the message she didn’t ask for in December 2024, when she was recovering from an injury that had kept her from working as an occupational therapist. She told CBS News that she saw it as a chance to “use my time, start something new, and make money, to carry me into my older years.”

The victim was then put in touch with someone who went by the name “Niamh” and said she was a single mother. Niamh and a supposed customer service representative helped Holder set up crypto wallets and move tokens. After the victim invested a small initial amount, they returned large gains. This is a classic tactic in investment fraud known as “pig butchering.”

Over the following two months, Holder sent a total of $300,000 to 14 different crypto wallets. When the money stopped appearing in her wallet, she confronted Niamh directly about whether she had been defrauded. Niamh averted blame, telling Holder she had made “a fatal mistake” by sending assets to a wrong address.

The victim fell into severe depression and was after all brought to a hospital by social services. She now lives in an assisted care facility supported by Medicaid.

IRS traces wallets to $5 million criminal network

The IRS Criminal Investigation New York Field Office traced the 14 wallet addresses back to five wallets used to funnel ~$5 million stolen from multiple victims.

IRS agent Harry Chavis said that investigators believe the criminals used AI tools available on the dark web to scrape personal information and identify vulnerable targets. “They’re using these dark AI tools to write scripts to literally go specifically to the victim,” Chavis said.

Chavis urged victims not to let shame stop them from contacting authorities. He continued, “These are highly sophisticated scams and anyone can be a victim.”

FBI data shows crypto fraud losses hit $11 billion in 2025

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 453,000 cyber-related fraud complaints in 2025. The total losses reached $21 billion, according to the bureau’s latest annual report. Investment scams accounted for 49% of those complaints.

Cryptocurrency-related fraud was the costliest category. A total of $11 billion in losses was recorded across 181,565 complaints. The FBI identified 22,364 complaints tied to AI tools with combined losses of $893 million.

The pattern extends beyond anonymous online schemes.

In a separate case sentenced on April 23, a federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands gave Sze Man Yu Inos a 71-month prison term for a bitcoin wire fraud scheme that targeted older women across Saipan, Guam, Washington, and California. Prosecutors said Inos built personal relationships with victims before soliciting money under false investment pretenses, resulting in $769,355 in ordered restitution.

The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection says common indicators of AI-driven scams include unsolicited contact and messages that push urgency or demand secrecy. The Federal Trade Commission has stated that any business requesting cryptocurrency payments is not legitimate, and that guaranteed investment returns in crypto markets are a red flag.

Victims can file reports through the FBI’s IC3 portal or the FTC’s Report Fraud website. Federal agents say early reporting improves the chances of tracing stolen funds and identifying perpetrators.

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