A husband and wife have been indicted for running a fake romance pig-butchering scam using voice-altering technology that allegedly lured more than 20,000 people into losing more than NT$900 million (US$28.34 million), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said today.
The investigation wrapped up today, with another 55 defendants indicted and assets seized, including Ferraris, McLaren supercars and 47 luxury watches, the office said.
Prosecutors believe that the scheme has been running since 2022, employing a software engineer to develop a voice-altering artificial intelligence (AI) trained using the voices of 22 female employees to disguise scammers’ voices.
Photo: Liu Yung-yun, Taipei Times
Using the traditional “pig butchering” technique, the group would create female profiles on online dating sites and wait for victims to contact them, prosecutors said.
After they began communication, they would ask them to buy expensive health supplements such as fish oil, or other items such as portable chargers for about NT$1,000 to NT$2,000, prosecutors said.
Once the group determined that the victim had adequate financial resources, they would begin to ask for more lavish gifts such as expensive hair dyers and mobile phones, they said.
As the relationship developed, they would start asking for money for living and medical expenses, help moving house, lingerie, jewelry and aesthetic medical procedures, they said.
Scammers even asked for financial assistance for HPV vaccines and courses to do bridal makeup, beauty and eyelash extensions, they added.
Some women were sent to meet with the men in person to continue the scam and solicit further payments, they said.
The group also punished employees who failed to meet performance targets with inhumane physical and sexual punishments, prosecutors said.
Some of the 20,000 victims were driven into debt due to the scheme, they added.
Prosecutors believe the scam was run by Huang Chien-hao (黃建豪) and his wife, Hsu Hsiang-chi (許湘琦), for whom they have requested a 25 and 18 year prison sentence respectively.
Taipei prosecutors launched searches in May and July, seizing luxury cars and watches, NT$300 million worth of real estate and bank account funds, and 67 computers containing AI deepfake software.
The 57 defendants were indicted today on suspicion of contravening the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例), the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) and the Criminal Code for aggravated online fraud carried out by three or more people, prosecutors said.
The cases are to be tried at the Taipei District Court, they added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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