While millions of people search will search love online this Valentine’s Day, cyber-criminals are searching for their next victim, and this year, they’re using AI to make their scams more convincing than ever before.
Dr Jason Nurse, a Cyber Security expert at the University’s Institute of Cyber Security for Society (iCSS), explains how cyber criminals are using AI in romance scams and provides his top tips for staying safe online:
‘Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), and platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok are great for helping us in our daily lives but they are also being used by criminals for an increasing number of scams. In particular, we have now entered an era where ChatGPT-like systems are used to facilitate romance scam and fraud.
‘Over the last few years, we’ve seen these type of scams increase significantly with people paying thousands of pounds to scammers, and traveling hundreds of miles, in the hope of meeting their future partners. In one sad story, an AI Brad Pitt conned a victim out of €830,000.
‘As online dating has become increasingly popular, especially around special days like Valentine’s, there is a significant risk that many people may meet a special someone that isn’t actually real. Instead, it’s a scammer pulling the strings of an AI system.
‘In these cases the scammer is often aiming to nudge the victim into oversharing personal information – which can later be used for fraud or identity theft, sharing potentially sensitive photos – to be used for sextortion, or catfishing – to lead to financial loss, reputation compromise, or general emotional distress.’
Dr Nurse’s top tips for being safe when dating online are:
- Avoid sharing too much personal information – This includes your private photos, home address, birthdate, financial information, etc.
- Ask to meet face-to-face in a public place to verify their identity. Also be aware that video calls can be faked (also known as deepfakes), so even this isn’t clear proof.
- Always be cautious with any requests for money, vouchers, or gifts, regardless of how believable the reason may be.
- Check if profile photos are reused. A Google reverse image search can be used, but also be aware that AI platforms like DALL-E allow the creation of completely new and original images.
- There’s no way (yet) to definitively tell whether you’re speaking with an AI system hidden behind a profile. It’s therefore best to always be a bit cautious until you verify the person’s identity.
- Don’t be afraid to put the brakes on. If you get a sense that you’re being rushed in any way, you’re probably right -cyber criminals will be keen to seal the deal.
- Get a sense check from a friend or member of your family, show them some of the interactions and they may help you to pick up a red flag.
Dr Jason Nurse, is a Reader in Cyber Security at Kent’s School of Computing and is a Core Member of the Institute of Cyber Security for Society (iCSS). His research focuses on the interaction between users and aspects of cyber security, privacy and trust.