Scammers and fraudsters use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create convincing fake profiles and romantic conversations on dating apps or social media platforms to perpetrate romance scams.
Some high-tech scammers use AI to gather and analyze personal information about potential victims to help personalize their messages and build trust.
The scammers also use AI-powered chatbots to engage in automated conversations with victims. The chatbots adapt their responses based on the victim’s messages to make the scam more convincing.
What’s scarier is that scammers are using the new and powerful AI tool called ChatGPT to write personalized and convincing love messages and letters targeting unsuspecting victims.
According to the Modern Love Report published by McAfee, 69% of the respondents could not tell whether AI wrote a love note presented to them.
A Powerful New Weapon – ChatGPT
McAfee used a love letter written by ChatGPT.
So, what’s ChatGPT?
It is an AI software developed by OpenAI. It uses state-of-the-art natural language processing (NLP) techniques to understand the meaning and context of text-based inputs. It can generate highly coherent and relevant responses to various topics and queries.
It is one of the most advanced and sophisticated AI models in existence. It is trained using massive text data from the internet. It is also capable of generating text in multiple languages.
ChatGPT is freely available, and anyone with a browser can use it. Scammers use ChatGPT to generate love messages, letters and notes to defraud their targets.
ChatGPT Love Letter
Below is the ChatGPT-generated love letter that McAfee used in the research.
“My Dearest,
The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew that my heart would forever be yours. Your beauty, both inside and out, is unmatched and your kind and loving spirit only adds to my admiration for you.
You are my heart, my soul, my everything. I cannot imagine a life without you, and I will do everything in my power to make you happy. I love you now and forever…”
It’s hard to discern whether AI or a human being wrote it. The letter is convincing and conveys the emotions and feelings of the writer. It shows the writer’s willingness to be emotionally exposed and to take a risk in expressing their feelings.
It is also personalized to the recipient since it mentions specific moments, experiences, and qualities that the writer admires about them.
However, it has overly flowery or poetic language that might seem insincere or over-the-top.
Romance Scam Warnings
Authorities and organizations have been issuing warnings over romance scams. Data reports have backed the warnings.
Some of the recent romance scam reports include:
- The 2022 Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) report showed consumers reported losses related to romance scams which totaled $547 million in 2021. This figure was approximately an 80% increase from the year 2020 reports.
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) also issued a warning in February 2021 about romance scams, noting that they had become more sophisticated and convincing in recent years. The ACCC reported that Australians had lost over $37 million to romance scams in 2020, a 23% increase from the previous year.
- The Better Business Bureau (BBB) in the United States released a report in January 2021 warning about the rise of “catfishing” scams. The scammer uses fake identities and photos to trick their victim into believing they are someone else. The BBB reported that these scams had increased by 30% in 2020.
- The UK’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) warned in January 2021 about a new type of romance scam involving cryptocurrency. In these scams, the “romantic” scammer convinces their victim to invest in a cryptocurrency scheme but then disappears with the victim’s money.
The above data indicates how fraudulent individuals have succeeded in scamming unsuspecting targets. Most victims are individuals looking for romantic relationships on dating apps and websites, and social media.
These reports emphasize the importance of being cautious when interacting with strangers online, especially in romantic relationships. It’s crucial to take steps to verify someone’s identity and only send money to someone you have met in person or confirmed their authenticity.
Modern Identity Verification Against Romance Scam
Dating sites and social media owners can combine technological solutions and manual processes to verify the authenticity of users’ identities.
Some of the most common techniques used today include:
- Document Verification – This process involves scanning and verifying government-issued identification documents, such as passports or driver’s licenses. Advanced software can detect forgeries or alterations and identify mismatched or fraudulent data.
- Document Verification – This process involves scanning and verifying government-issued identification documents, such as passports or driver’s licenses. Advanced software can detect forgeries or alterations and identify mismatched or fraudulent data.
- Biometric Verification: Biometric verification uses a person’s unique physical characteristics, such as facial recognition or fingerprint scanning, to confirm their identity.
- Background Checks: Some online dating services and websites use third-party background check services to verify users’ identities. These checks can confirm employment, education, criminal history, and other relevant data to ensure the user’s profile is legitimate.
Individuals engaging in online romantic conversations or dating can use the following methods to help verify the identity of the potential partner:
- Reverse image search tools like Google search to quickly determine if the photos they use belong to someone else.
- Look for clues on their social media profiles, such as their connections and activities, to help verify their identity.
- Ask them to participate in a video call. This video verification process can help you confirm that the person you speak with is who they claim to be. For example, if they claim to be from Manhattan, USA, tell them to video call outside a popular restaurant near their location or with a background of a famous building such as the Steinway Tower.
- You can also ask for identity verification documents which they must produce within a short time to deny them the chance to forge them.
Modern Identity Verification techniques provide a layer of protection against romance scams by making it more difficult for fraudsters to create and use fake profiles and prey on vulnerable individuals.
Final Thoughts
Advancements in technology have benefited humanity in many ways, improving how we live and interact. However, scammers have also used these technologies maliciously to defraud others. If you intend or engage in a romantic relationship, be cautious about the other person. If you doubt them, use the above or other modern identity verification against romance scams.