Massachusetts man lost $400,000 to 'Eliza' as American-made AI fueled a global scam boom

A Massachusetts man says he lost $400,000 after building trust with "Eliza," an apparent online love interest who steered him into a fake crypto investment scheme.

His story shows how modern scams no longer rely solely on a persuasive message. They can also exploit American internet infrastructure and, potentially, AI-powered deception operating at a global scale.

What happened?

Looking back, Chris Colocousis says he still cannot tell who — or even what — was behind the Facebook outreach. As the Associated Press reported, the person seemed credible because she used a New York phone number, said she worked for a major financial firm, and appeared on a video call.

AP reporting also showed a strong U.S. presence in the internet traffic linked to scam compounds in Myanmar. In a sample of 202,013 connections associated with four compounds, roughly 20% were routed through American providers, including Oracle, AT&T, Cogent Communications, and DigitalOcean.

Scammers often hide their real location by passing traffic through U.S.-based cloud services before reaching platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, according to the AP. That is why John Breyault of the National Consumers League said, "The ISPs are in a particularly critical place in this chain."

For Colocousis, the financial and emotional toll was immense. "You just feel like your whole world fell apart," he said, adding, "I'm thinking about all this time that I invested into reaching a point where I could retire at a certain age — and it's just gone." 

Why does it matter?

The systems many people trust every day — social platforms, phone numbers, and internet providers — can be used to make scams seem local, legitimate, and safe.

Colocousis said the sophistication of online fraud is often underestimated by people who assume victims simply missed obvious warning signs. According to the AP, he said he was told to hand over $80,000 in cash to unlock his funds, and a man later came to his home to collect it.

AI can help society in meaningful ways, including improving grid efficiency and helping utilities manage renewable energy. AI systems also require enormous computing power, electricity, and water. When those same technologies are used for impersonation, security evasion, or scams, they create another hidden cost that can strain infrastructure and contribute to higher energy demand and bills.

What's being done?

Even with some corporate action, experts say much of the response still comes too late. According to the AP, Meta said it has disrupted millions of accounts connected to scam operations in Southeast Asia and the UAE, adding that "scammers are determined criminals who use increasingly sophisticated tactics to defraud people and evade detection on our platforms and across the internet."

Analysts say internet providers and cloud companies could do more to catch suspicious activity before losses occur instead of acting only after the damage is done. Dan Winchester of Scamalytics said, "What you need to be doing is proactively stopping fraud on your servers."

Doug Madory of Kentik pointed to AT&T as one company that has already addressed part of the problem. The AP reported that it now requires business customers to identify their own networks. "It would be great if everybody did what AT&T did," Madory said.

Colocousis said, trying to find his words, "I'm all for capitalism, but when it's totally ruining people's lives … something's wrong."

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