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Video call on a laptop
Dating scam guide

AI chatbots and deepfake video calls

Also known as: deepfake romance scam, AI-generated profile, chatfishing

How it works

Scammers use generative AI to create realistic profile photos, write fluent flirtatious messages at scale, clone voices and alter their face in real-time video calls, defeating the classic advice to 'just video call them'. The persona is then used for romance, investment or sextortion scams. Researchers interviewing scam-compound insiders found most scam labour is scripted conversation that is easily automated with language models.

Who is targetedAll online daters; the Hong Kong case targeted mainly men in India, Singapore and Malaysia.
How fast it movesVaries; AI lets scammers run many conversations at once.
Typical routeSocial media/dating app -> messaging -> short or glitchy video call -> fake investment platform or money request

Red flags

  • Photos look flawless or have odd details (hands, teeth, eyes, backgrounds)
  • Video calls are short, low quality, or the face glitches or lags behind the voice
  • Voice sounds unnatural or out of step with their lips on calls

Check your match against all 44 red flags

Recent cases

Real cases reported by courts, police, regulators and the press. People facing pending charges are presumed innocent, and private victims are not named.

2024-10-09 · Hong Kong · HK$360 million
Hong Kong police arrested 27 people in a Hung Hom scam centre that used AI-generated images and deepfake technology to pose as attractive women, then steered victims into crypto investments with forged trading records; police seized training documents and over 100 phones.
2026-07-09 · Ghana / Ohio, USA · Alleged more than $8 million
A Ghanaian social-media influencer was extradited to the US to face charges of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy; prosecutors allege a network (April 2023 – November 2025) used AI-driven video tools to pose as romantic partners and tricked elderly Americans with stories of gold and diamond inheritances. He denies the charges and is presumed innocent.

The numbers

  • IC3 tracked AI as a descriptor for the first time: 22,364 AI-related complaints, with over $19 million lost to confidence/romance scams with a likely AI nexus. (2025) source
  • Research study: an LLM agent achieved 46% compliance vs 18% for human scammers in a week-long trial, and popular safety filters detected 0.0% of romance-baiting dialogues. (2025) source

If it is happening to you

  1. Treat a video call as helpful but not proof; combine with other checks and never send money regardless.
  2. Look for visual glitches the FBI lists: distorted hands or feet, unrealistic teeth or eyes, irregular faces, lagging audio.
  3. Agree a verification phrase with family for 'emergency' calls (FBI advice).
  4. Report as for romance or investment scams.

Where to report

United Statesreportfraud.ftc.gov – FTC – ReportFraud.ftc.govic3.gov – FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) – type www.ic3.gov directly; IC3 never contacts victims by phone, social media or chat
United Kingdomreportfraud.police.uk – Report Fraud (replaced Action Fraud) – reportfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040stopscamsuk.org.uk/159 – Call 159 to reach your bank's fraud team safely (covers >99% of UK retail current accounts)
Canadareportcyberandfraud.canada.ca – Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre – reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca or 1-888-495-8501, and your local police
Australiascamwatch.gov.au – Scamwatch (scamwatch.gov.au); ReportCyber via cyber.gov.au; IDCARE 1800 595 160 for identity recovery

Related scams

Woman reading a message on her phone in bed

Romance scams

A scammer builds an online relationship using a fake or borrowed identity, often over weeks or months, and invests heavily in attention and affection.

Laptop showing a trading chart

Pig butchering

A friendly or flirtatious contact – often on a dating app, social media or a 'wrong number' text – builds a relationship and casually mentions success trading crypto, gold or forex as a 'side job'.

Young man looking at his phone in the dark

Sextortion and image blackmail

The criminal poses as an attractive person (often a young woman) on a dating app, social media or game, flirts quickly, and persuades the target to exchange nude images or join an intimate video call that is secretly recorded.

Sources

Research compiled 28 September 2026.