Criminals using AI deepfakes of celebrities to scam people, say Thames Valley Police
TVP launched an awareness campaign to highlight the impact of romance fraud
Thames Valley Police (TVP) are warning that criminals are using AI to create deepfake videos and cloned voices of celebrities in order to scam people out of thousands of pounds.
Detectives say AI is an evolving tactic of romance fraud, which is where criminals exploit people looking for love online to steal money and personal information.
Detective Inspector Duncan Wynn, Head of Central Fraud Unit at TVP, says “We’ve had experiences of victims in Thames Valley who have genuinely believed that they're in a relationship with a celebrity."
Adding: “These are things can quickly develop into great financial losses.”
Detective Kelly Turner from the fraud unit explains, “AI constantly evolving, it's getting much better, it's at a standard now where AI does appear natural.
“Also, there's AI Voice cloning which fraudsters use to create a sound of a celebrity or a person known to the victim. The emotional realism makes victims more compliant and less sceptical to it.”
DI Wynn also said: “We've contacted a few of the celebrities whose profile has been faked, and they've been very distressed by the fact that people are using their name and their image to defraud people.”
Impact and advice:
This week, the force launched an awareness campaign highlighting the real impact on victims, and the sneaky tactics fraudsters use to manipulate trust and emotions.
One victim, who wished to remain anonymous said: “It was difficult to stop giving him money. I was too deep into the cycle, and he kept promising to pay it back.”
Another person said: “All I did was cry. He was asking me for money I did not have. I did not even have money for bills.”
DI Wynn is advising people to “assume somebody is fake until you've met them in the real world.
“Stay on the dating sites, don't go on to private messenger, and certainly don't give away any information around your personal details or your finances.”
“My number one tip for people is to ensure that they have a trusted friend or family as a dating buddy or somebody who can also show an interest.
“Criminals will absolutely rely on isolating the victim away from loved ones in order to carry out the fraud. So, having a second pair of eyes, somebody who can
look at it objectively, can often spot the red flags that the victim can't spot.”
Thames Valley Police is encouraging people to empower their knowledge to protect themselves against romance scams.
You can find more information here