In today’s contemporary romance landscape, fraudsters are increasingly utilizing AI-generated deepfakes to exploit individuals seeking affection. On Wednesday, Meta, a leading social media company, cautioned users about online connections that promise love but are actually after money and other benefits.
“This represents a new weapon in the arsenal of scammers,” stated David Agranovich, Meta’s global threat disruption policy director, during a press briefing.
“These con artists are constantly adapting; we must also evolve to maintain safety.”
Fraudsters are increasingly leveraging AI to deceive those in search of love. According to Agranovich, detection systems within Meta’s platforms, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, focus more on behavioural patterns and technical indicators than on visual content, allowing them to identify fraudulent activities despite the use of AI manipulation.
“Our detection and enforcement mechanisms are becoming more robust against generative AI,” Agranovich explained.
He highlighted a recent operation that was thwarted, which reportedly originated in Cambodia and aimed at individuals speaking Chinese and Japanese.
According to Meta, researchers from OpenAI have found that a so-called “scam compound” appears to be utilizing the tools developed by the San Francisco-based AI firm for content creation and translation.
Although generative AI technology has existed for over a year, scammers’ adoption of it has surged in recent months, as noted by Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security and an “ethical hacker,” during a recent briefing.
The freely accessible GenAI tools provided by major corporations enable fraudsters to alter their appearances and voices during video calls while impersonating others.
“They can also leverage these deepfake bots to create a persona or make phone calls using voice cloning, all without any human involvement,” Tobac explained.
While they refer to them as agents, their role is not in customer support but rather in executing automated scams.
Tobac advised individuals to maintain a “politely paranoid” mindset when an online friend suggests pursuing a romantic relationship, especially if it eventually leads to requests for money under the guise of an emergency or business proposition.
The winter season, combined with the Valentine’s Day festivities, creates a perfect opportunity for fraudsters to exploit feelings of loneliness and despair.
“We certainly notice an increase in scammers taking advantage of that emotional vulnerability during the harsh winter months,” Tobac noted.
The primary objective of these scammers is financial gain, often employing strategies to quickly establish trust before fabricating a reason to request money or personal information that could grant access to bank accounts, according to Tobac.
“Exercising polite scepticism is very effective, and it’s important to confirm that people are genuine,” Tobac emphasized.
According to Agranovich, fraudulent activities occur on a wide range of social media platforms, with Meta experiencing just a fraction of this issue.
In the previous year, Meta removed over 408,000 accounts linked to scammers from West African nations who were masquerading as military officials or businesspeople to engage romantically with individuals in Australia, the UK, Europe, the US, and beyond, as reported by the tech giant.
In addition to dismantling these malicious networks, Meta is experimenting with facial recognition technology to verify the identities of potential online imposters identified by its systems or flagged by users.
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