Romance scams are one of the oldest cons in the online world, but they continue to pull in new victims all of the time. Joint research by four universities suggests that AI chatbots are now even better at carrying out these scams than humans, and that’s a pretty scary prospect …
Romance scams
A romance scam these days typically begins on a dating app. The victim will be contacted by somebody with an alluring profile, acting the role of an enthusiastic suitor who ticks all of their boxes.
They will engage the victim in extensive online chat, typically running over several months. Their excuse for being unable to meet anytime soon is usually that they are on an extended overseas trip.
Eventually, one of two things happens. Either a claimed emergency where they need immediate funds to get them out of a sticky situation, or the conversation turns to their allegedly successful investments, and the victim is persuaded to pay money into a fake crypto scheme.
