Heartbroken and Bankrupt: Shanghai Man Hoodwinked by AI Romance
A man in Shanghai got scammed of $28,000 by con artists posing as AI-generated girlfriend.
According to reports from Chinese state media, a Shanghai man has been defrauded of $28,000 after falling victim to a long-distance relationship with an AI-generated girlfriend. State broadcaster, CCTV reported that scammers used generative artificial intelligence software to create realistic video and still images of a young woman, who they presented as the fictional “Ms. Jiao.”
The victim, identified as Mr. Liu, transferred about 200,000 yuan (nearly $28,000) to what he believed was his online lover’s bank account. The scammers also used fake images to persuade him that his “girlfriend” needed financial help to open a business and cover a relative’s medical expenses. To reinforce the deception, the con artists even created a fake ID and medical reports, CCTV reported.
The scheme was orchestrated by a “scammer team sending video and photos that were all created through AI or made by combining multiple images,” according to a police investigation cited by CCTV. It added, “Throughout the process, (the victim) Mr. Liu never met Ms. Jiao in person.”
A CCTV video further showcased various AI-generated images of the fictional woman in different scenarios, including one where she posed with a paint palette and another standing on a city street. This incident highlights the growing need to checkmate hackers who take undue advantage of innocent victims with AI-generated content.
Recall that early this year, French woman, Anne, a 53-year-old interior designer, lost 830,000 euros (approximately $850,000) in personal funds to scammers because she believed she was sending money to a cancer-ridden Brad Pitt.
