# Queensland man loses more than $166,000 in AI-built crypto investment scam

https://mins.news/en/item/22277

- The Guardian, 2026-08-14 15:00 UTC
- Tech
- Original: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/15/australia-crypto-money-investment-scam-ai-fraud-crime

> A 29-year-old Queensland man invested more after a crypto trading app showed rapidly rising profits, but unauthorised transfers from his wallet soon left him more than $166,000 poorer. He realised it was an AI-built investment scam when customer support turned out to be a basic chatbot. Experts say AI now enables criminal networks to create convincing, personalised scam ecosystems at scale.