Valentine’s warning as AI fuels ‘insidious’ love scams
Australians looking for love are having their social media used against them as artificial intelligence is being used to tailor romance scams ahead of Valentine’s Day.
Scammers have long used rapprochement to get victims to open their wallets while on vacation.
But UNSW computer science lecturer Lesley Land warns that the rise of artificial intelligence is allowing criminals to step up their efforts and create highly complex and more emotionally manipulative scams.
The technology can be used to analyze people’s social media profiles and create romance scams targeting each victim.
“Some people give out too much personal information, so they might find out you’re a single mother, recently divorced or lost a loved one,” Dr Land told AAP.
“They can feed this into computer learning machines and automatically generate conversations to attract potential victims.”
Traditional romance scams often require bad actors to talk to victims for months or years.
But AI is also automating romance scams, allowing scammers to expand their operations.
Australians have lost more than $220 million to dating and romance scams alone since 2020, according to CHOICE.
Dr Land said many victims did not want to talk about their experiences, which could make it difficult to help them.
“A lot of people have been scammed, but they can be filled with shame,” he said.
“People may ask: Why were you deceived? Didn’t you see this coming?”
“It’s really sneaky because of the grooming process.”
CHOICE and other consumer advocacy groups including Financial Counseling Australia, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network and more are calling on the federal government to address gaps in their proposed fraud protections.
The Commonwealth’s Fraud Prevention Framework imposes no liability on businesses where fraud is common, such as dating apps, email services and online marketplaces, according to the groups.
“Putting the burden of fighting to get their money back when they become a victim onto a heartbroken consumer – at the lowest point in their lives – is a complete mess,” said Alexandra Kelly, director of the Financial Rights Law Centre.
While some industries, such as banking, are using AI to stop scams before they reach customers, Dr Land also urges Australians to be more aware of scams and report them to the police.
According to the Australian Banking Association, flawless-looking photos, vague and repetitive responses on dating apps and fast-moving relationships are clues to potential romance scams.
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