Online daters may think they’re too smart to fall for one of the romance scammers who swindle millions of lovesick Americans every year.
Maybe they should think again.
Scammers have taken their game to the next level, hitting targets with real-time deepfakes in terrifyingly convincing video calls.
For the victims – often an inconspicuous middle-aged roommate – it is all too convincing.
They meet an attractive suitor online, start chatting and then move on to Zoom or WhatsApp video calls.
The ‘Yahoo Boys’ Scammers Share Videos on How to Run a Real-Time Deepfake Scam
The target thinks they are talking to a hooded, buff, bearded suitor, a few years younger than themselves. In reality it looks very different and is located thousands of kilometers away
The chats are flirty and filled with compliments. For the victims, it is the real romance they have been waiting for.
But the face they’re talking to isn’t real.
It was stolen from a social media account and manipulated with readily available tools to be a real-time deepfake.
Targets may think they are talking to a shifty white professional in a neighboring state.
But under the face-swapping technology, it’s actually a scammer.
In reality, they are 6,000 miles away in West Africa, likely with an accomplice manning a complex cell phone system.
It doesn’t take long before the conversation turns to a reason why the target should part with cash.
Usually it involves a needy family member in the hospital or prison.
Other times it’s a one-time investment opportunity.
Sometimes it’s as mundane as cash for a trip, or a few hundred dollars to help with a delivery.
The deepfake face used by scammers most likely comes from a social media profile or hacked account traded on the dark web
In other cases, the scammer wants saucy photos, which can later be used for blackmail.
Nearly 70,000 people reported a romance scam in 2022, according to the Federal Trade Commission, a government watchdog.
Reported losses were as much as $1.3 billion.
On average, victims lost $4,400.
David Maimon, a professor at Georgia State University and head of fraud insights at security firm SentiLink, said he knows some victims have lost “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
This “new wave of scams” involving real-time deepfakes is alarming, he told DailyMail.com.
But the known losses are “just the tip of the iceberg,” he added, because many victims are ashamed and do not report their losses.
A recent survey by cybersecurity company McAfee found that 31 percent of Americans had experienced online chats with a suitor who turned out to be a scammer.
The brazen scammers are not ashamed of their deception.
They brag about it and share how-to videos of scams on Telegram and other networks.
David Maimon says online daters ‘need to be vigilant’ as crooks know how to track down a target
Maimon provided DailyMail.com with his archive of messages shared between scammers.
The videos are heartbreaking.
The targets, men and women, seem love-struck and sincere, but also tormented by the pressure they are under.
The scammers are cool, confident and skilled at manipulating people.
Maimon says he is impressed by the level of detail of their fraud.
The scammers often send pizzas or teddy bears as gifts to build a bond with their targets.
They fake photos of their alter egos in hospital beds to reinforce their story.
Some trading tips with other scammers on the best software to use.
Microsoft’s new VASA-1 program, released this month, is set to be popular.
Scammers have been experimenting with deep-fake video clips for about two years, Maimon says.
In recent months, they have switched to real-time deep-fake video calls.
They are known as the ‘Yahoo Boys’, a loose collective of scammers, often based in Nigeria.
Online cybercriminal groups can have thousands of members.
The Yahoo Boys sell tutorial videos on how to make a more compelling rom-con
The rom-cons vary wildly, but the scammers have a few standard phrases they use to lure in victims
It is a young generation of school dropouts in West Africa who are engaging in identity theft and romance fraud on social media.
Young people who should actually be going to class chat with foreigners in internet cafes, hoping to extort money.
For some, scams are the only way to make a profit in a region with persistent poverty, high youth unemployment and political and economic uncertainty.
Romance scams are lucrative and popular, but not the only scam they commit.
The cyber criminals engage in sextortion, crypto fraud and impersonation.
According to Maimon, real-time deep fakes are now being used to trick business people into parting with cash in what they believe is a genuine commercial transaction.
The Federal Trade Commission says nearly 70,000 people were duped in a romance scam in 2022
“People need to be vigilant,” he said, as the scale of the scams increases every year.
Scammers only try to catch targets when they are more vulnerable, Maimon said.
People who are unsure whether a suitor will come along involve a friend or family member in the conversation.
They can offer a second opinion and possibly deter scammers.
Web users are advised to do basic research about those who approach them on dating sites.
Often they use fake photos that appear elsewhere on the Internet and can be traced via a reverse image search.
They are also urged to ask questions of their alleged suitors, and to never share personal financial information or send their own money.