California Retiree Loses $500,000 to Pig Butchering Scam, Then Falls for the Same Scam Again

A California retiree who lost his $500,000 life savings to a romance scheme known as pig butchering has fallen for the same kind of scam all over again.

Adan Look, a retired San Francisco city gardener, started chatting with a new online love interest right after the first scam wiped him out, reports ABC7 News.

In the first scheme, a woman he met on Facebook who went by “Annie” said she had made millions investing in crypto and promised they would build a dream home together in Hawaii.

Look wired his money to banks in Asia until it ran out, and he realized both the investment and Annie were fake.

His new contact, “Vicky,” claimed to be an Army combat medic stationed in Kuwait and soon began asking him for money.

Bank of America flagged the account and blocked three attempts by Look to wire $2,000 to a woman Vicky described as a diplomat.

Look then sent $1,000 through Zelle and $1,000 in Apple gift cards.

Vicky later said she could pay off her commander to get discharged right away and asked for about $45,000.

Look’s son Jonathan says his father tried to come up with the money and risked losing his home.

“He was already preapproved for a mortgage loan at $500,000. So, I called the loan officer. I was like, ‘The guy’s being scammed.’”

Family members cannot legally step in without the victim’s permission.

ABC7 ran a reverse image search on a photo Vicky sent and found it belonged to someone on an adult dating site using a different name.

The Army told the station it is extremely confident the service member Vicky claimed to be does not exist.

Says Look,

“I’m a target. That’s what I see.”

Look has since blocked Vicky, but he is already chatting with another online contact named “Suzy,” who he believes is real.