Woman Defrauded of £17k in AI-Powered Romance Scam Using Deepfakes
A 77-year-old retired lecturer from Edinburgh, Nikki MacLeod, has cried out about being deceived in an online romance scam that involved AI-generated deepfake videos.
A fraudulent business scheme, which resulted in MacLeod losing £17,000, shows
the increasing sophistication of cybercriminals who use artificial intelligence to manipulate unsuspecting victims.
the increasing sophistication of cybercriminals who use artificial intelligence to manipulate unsuspecting victims.
MacLeod explained that after experiencing loneliness from losing her parents during the COVID-19 lockdown and the end of a long-term relationship, she turned to online chat groups, where she met a woman named “Alla Morgan. Ms MacLeod was led to believe the woman Alla Morgan working on a North Sea oil rig. The deep fake scammer concocted a story about how she needed to use Steam gift cards to get an internet connection on the rig.
They convinced the elderly victim to buy the cards, typically used for buying video games, that she needed to buy one so they could carry on speaking. While she initially hesitated, Ms MacLeod ended up buying hundreds of pounds worth of the cards.The retired university lecturer repeatedly asked Alla Morgan for a live video call.
But every time she requested one it was either refused or failed to work. At that point she began to receive recorded video messages made by AI technology.
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