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Victims describe ‘pig‑butchering’ and imposter scams; San Diego prosecutors show model for recovery
Summary
Two Californians described how scammers drained life savings through tech‑enabled and romance‑style schemes. San Diego prosecutors and task forces described arrests of local couriers and urged statewide replication.
Two Californians testified at a Little Hoover Commission hearing on Sept. 25 about how sophisticated scams cost them savings and upended their lives — illustrating why witnesses urged coordinated law‑enforcement and community responses.
Lynn, 72, described an imposter tech‑support scam that began with a frightening pop‑up and a fraudulent “Microsoft” phone line. Scammers coached her to withdraw cash and buy gold, which she packaged and turned over to a courier they supplied. Over about 10 weeks she withdrew seven times, depleted savings, retirement accounts and retirement plans, and later learned she faced additional tax consequences. Lynn told commissioners she wants banks to flag unusual withdrawal patterns, require tellers to provide written warnings, and for gold dealers to adopt stronger ID and reporting requirements.
Karina described a 2023 “pig‑butchering” crypto fraud in which a romantic contact on a dating app built…
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