OpenAI announced it disrupted a cluster of ChatGPT accounts connected to the Poipet scam operation — one of the largest organized fraud networks in Southeast Asia, based in Cambodia. The operation ran romance scams, cryptocurrency investment fraud (“pig butchering”), and fake job schemes, using ChatGPT to draft convincing messages in multiple languages, translate between scammers and victims, and keep conversations going at scale. OpenAI investigated in coordination with Meta’s WhatsApp, which the network used to reach victims, and has banned the associated accounts.
Scam compounds like Poipet are large warehouses staffed by people who were themselves trafficked and forced to run fraud operations under threat of violence. AI tools have become central to their workflow: they allow a single trafficked worker to maintain dozens of simultaneous “relationships” with victims and craft messages that sound fluent and emotionally plausible in languages the worker doesn’t speak. OpenAI said the Poipet accounts used ChatGPT for administrative tasks too — including tracking victim debt repayment plans and employee fines. If you or someone you know may have been targeted by an investment or romance scam, the FBI’s IC3 complaint center and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov accept reports.