Love, Lies, and the Threat of AI

If you feel like you’re inundated every day with online ads, unwanted solicitations and suspected scams, you’re not alone. New polling shows a shockingly high number of Americans, an estimated 4 in 10, are subjected to suspected scams on a daily basis, with 3 in 10 of those polled admitting they’ve lost money.

Internet crime is at an all-time high, with financial losses reaching nearly $21 billion dollars in 2025. Of that, romance scams totaled nearly a billion dollars.

The Nigerian Connection

One of the most prominent online romance scams involved six men from Nigeria who were recently extradited to the United States for criminal prosecution. The men, from the nefarious organization known as “Black Axe,” allegedly used online romance to scam more than 100 women out of more than $6 million dollars.

In the world of online romance scams, however, $6 million is just a drop in the bucket. Authorities say in 2023 more than 64,000 Americans were conned out of more than a billion dollars in romance scams. With the rise of artificial intelligence, those numbers could skyrocket.

The “Beau Bot”

AI is being blamed for a recent surge in what’s called the “Beau Bot” scam, in which scammers use AI to create believable dating profiles and photos, then deploy chatbots to engage with daters and eventually rip them off. In a recent survey by the cybersecurity firm, McAfee, 35% of Americans who use dating apps believe they’ve encountered phony photos and profiles. The Beau Bot takes the con to a whole new level.

The company Anthropic, creator of the AI assistant “Claude,” recently issued a remarkable report, saying it discovered an AI dating scam, in which 4,700 unique personas, built with Claude, interacted with 25,000 people, generating more than two million messages over a two-week period. The victims believed they were communicating with humans, but that was only partially true.

In its report, Anthropic said the criminals used a China-based app studio to build a network of 20 dating apps and to generate AI personas. A small number of human gig workers were then recruited to fill in the gaps that AI couldn’t, such as brief video calls and social media follows to make the scheme all the more convincing. Unlike other romance scams in which the victims were lured into sending the scammers money, this one was monetized by tokens purchased through the app to keep the conversations going. With more than two million messages exchanged during a two-week period, that’s a lot of bank.

Tools of Detection

During my years of online dating, I came across scores of sketchy profiles and suspected scammers, all of which I detail in my book, Taking The Plunge, A Memoir; Finding A Lasting Love In Online Dating. In the book, I write about the importance of carefully examining profiles and how background checks can help flush out the fakes.

There are numerous tools that can help detect scammers or other bad actors. The website PeopleFinders has been around for awhile, and has now developed a new platform called Stud or Dud, which is geared specifically toward daters. Stud or Dud will dig into finances, assets, employment, marital history, and criminal records, to help determine whether to raise a red flag or green flag about someone.

While criminals are using AI to create convincing romance scams, dating platforms are stepping up their game as well. Dating sites such as Bumble, Match, Tinder, OK Cupid, and Plenty of Fish use AI to weed out fake profiles and bad behavior. Banks and credit card companies are also using AI to weed out fraudsters. The credit card company, Visa, says its Scam Disruption team uncovered a romance scam network that engineered dating sites and chat bots to lure victims into recurring billing traps.

With all the advances of AI it’s vital to remember that one of the most important tools in uncovering a scammer is to trust your intuition. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Ask questions and trust but verify.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Have you ever suspected that some dating profiles or photos were fake or AI generated? If so, what was your reaction? Have you ever been the victim of a romance scam? If you have, please share your story. What can the dating platforms do to make you feel safe?