Here we go again, another day, another scam and another victim.
He is smooth talking, handsome and utterly convincing. And yet he does not exist.
Financial authorities are warning of the new generation of ‘AI conmen‘ being used to trick women out of their savings in the latest internet scam.
‘Mike Murdy’ told victims he was a US army colonel looking for love after his wife died. He was 61, from Nashville, and about to retire. He had one final mission to Cuba before he could settle down for a new life with his ‘true love’.
In a series of videos sent to care worker Mary, in her sixties and from the east of England, his story appeared all too real. But the plaintive video messages, his image, voice and texts were all fake, the imagery created by artificial intelligence.
It is part of a new, insidious, high-tech confidence trick being used by romance scammers on Tinder. By the time ‘Mary’ (not her real name) realised Mike was a fake, the AI verified by experts, she had lost almost £20,000 of her savings.
Whatever the technology, the underlying scam is the same. The moment someone you have never met in real life asks for money, that’s it. Red flag. Indeed, if it’s someone you’ve been dating in real life, the same applies. No one should be asking a relative stranger for money so soon in a relationship but if you haven’t met, then it’s a scam. AI or not, it makes no difference.
A US Army colonel on a mission to Cuba of all places? I must be behind the times – did not think we were doing that.
But a US Army colonel on active duty has his needs – housing, food, medical – taken care of by the US military, and retiring at 61 generally means a pretty decent pension in the offing, so wth does he need money from Tinder dates for? If anything I’d expect it to be reversed and the woman is the fake beauty predatory scammer going after retired gentlemen with $$.
I agree – relative strangers asking for money is a huge red flag. There are some silly people on the planet and have been since there were people, and the scammers who prey on them also have always been around.
This sounded so stupid to me I actually read the article to find out what the scam was. It’s just a fancier version of the Nigerian Prince – it plays on gullibility and greed. Instead of a inheritance that somehow requires a stranger’s bank account to be realized, it was a briefcase of money he needed her help with for some reason that escapes me, but I guess it involved her giving money or account information to access it. Yeah my sympathy for this woman went to 0 after reading that.
It’s the Moist Von Lipwig principle – there’s greed at the bottom of it, even on the victim’s part, and that makes the whole thing easier.
Yes, ten grand for the key. The first one didn’t arrive so she paid for another.
And the new fraud will be this: A sends money to X; A claims they were defrauded; bank refunds A. X has the money A sent them but A is not out of pocket due to the refund; X splits the money received from A with A.
It does need an established bank account rather than a brand new one but it will be done and the regulators will push for refunds.
So gullible/greedy people have no consequences for their actions, and the rest of us pay for it.
Because it sure isn’t “the bank” who pays the refund, it’s the customers. The biggest element of bank fees comes from businesses, who pass on the fees they pay in their prices to consumers. So for every story of a happy refund, you can work out what your contribution was.
cynical, moi?
The next turn of the screw will be AI Honeytraps to entice AI Conmen into revealing data about their ‘owners’. And so it goes.
I post portraits and such on an art-themed website, just because I can. Nothing great, but a scammer sent me a message t’other day. Apparently they love my art and want to make NFTs of the pictures. As all I would have to do was send them 100 dollars for administration and they would buy back my art at 1,500 dollars a pop, I would be a fool not to take advantage.
I was a fool, and declined their generous offer.