Investigative reporting links a powerful face‑swapping platform called Haotian, marketed on Telegram, to fraud rings that create live video and voice impersonations used in romance and "pig butchering" crypto scams. Researchers say the tool has been used to extract millions in cryptocurrency from victims by enabling highly convincing live interactions.

A WIRED investigation published December 18, 2025 exposed Haotian, an advanced face‑swapping app promoted via Telegram, as a key enabler of ultra‑realistic live video and integrated voice impersonations used by romance and investment fraud rings. The reporting describes how operators use the platform to create convincing live interactions that mimic a trusted person or fabricated romantic interest, then leverage those interactions to build intimacy and pressure victims into sending cryptocurrency or providing access to funds. Researchers and blockchain analysts linked millions in crypto payments to scams that employed face‑swap and voice-cloning features to defeat ordinary skepticism and verification steps. The story details the technical capabilities—live lip sync, real-time voice transformation, and low-latency streaming—that let fraudsters perform believable, dynamic exchanges rather than static deepfakes, enabling longer cons and higher-value transfers. WIRED warns that combined face-swap and voice tools materially increase the scale and sophistication of romance and "pig butchering" schemes and calls for stronger platform enforcement, law enforcement training, and new detection tools to counter live impersonation abuse.