AI lottery prediction scam causes user losses on social media
Users on Chinese social media platforms lost money attempting to purchase lottery tickets based on AI predictions. An AI software company also published fake winning posts to market its app, while platforms like WeChat and Xiaohongshu flagged such content as violations of lottery prediction rules.
What happened
Users on Xiaohongshu shared posts claiming to use ChatGPT and AI software to predict lottery numbers. One user documented predictions from December 14, 2024 to January 8, 2025, accumulating losses of approximately 200 yuan across 19 days of purchases based on AI-generated 'lucky numbers' and 'divination signs'.
An AI software company published posts claiming successful lottery wins using their software, including an image of a 5-yuan winning ticket, which generated hundreds of likes and inquiries from users wanting to download the app. The same account published multiple similar posts formatted as 'AI predicted lottery wins,' functioning as marketing advertisements.
Reported impact
Users suffered financial losses attempting to purchase lottery tickets based on AI predictions. A journalist verified that three lottery number combinations generated by AI software did not win any prizes when tested with 12 yuan of lottery purchases on January 7.
Index analysis
Lottery draws are independent random events where winning numbers are randomly generated with no patterns or correlations between historical data. The China Welfare Lottery has repeatedly stated that lottery winning numbers cannot be predicted and 'prediction software' lacks scientific basis.
WeChat public platform rules prohibit lottery prediction content and specify violations include 'predicting lottery numbers through dream interpretation or fortune-telling methods' and 'inducing users to add personal WeChat contacts or external links promoting lottery prediction services.' Multiple users on Xiaohongshu reported having posts about using ChatGPT to buy lottery tickets marked as violations.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.