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What Is “LoveGPT”?
LoveGPT refers to a new type of AI-driven romance scam that is targeting dating apps. Scammers are using Chat GPT and other AI powered tools to create, manage and automate fake and highly realistic dating profiles. Over time once trust is built, the conversation will eventually be moved to other apps and then eventually the scammers will use one of many tactics to extract money from the victims.
This is far more sophisticated than the old school romance scammers using basic copy and paste scripts, often in broken English. These days, AI based LLM (Large Language Model) tools are able to create poetic, flawless dialogue that is context aware and feels like it is a real human speaking.
AI never sleeps, so with an automated AI-driven tool running a realistic profile on a dating app, this allows the “partner” to be available around the clock for attention and emotional support.
There is also a specific malware tool called Love-GPT, even though the name is used as more of a concept and catch-all term used by the media and cybersecurity experts.
The Anatomy Of An AI-Powered Romance Scam
AI is capable of creating perfect dating profiles that are tailored to specific demographics, and used in sophisticated romance scams. In the “grooming phase” powerful AI tools can easily mirror the victim’s interests and way of communicating. It would be hard for the majority of people to know that they were talking to an AI bot, not a real human.
These AI powered romance scams use AI generated photos that look totally realistic. Many people would not know the difference. Additionally these romance scammers are using cloned voices created with AI; these are known as ‘audio deepfakes’. So with realistic photos and cleverly created faked voices, it can be nearly impossible to pick out that there is fraudulent behaviour in progress.
Why The Human Brain Is No Match For The Bots
In a romance scam situation, the rapid, thoughtful and consistent AI bot responses generally end up triggering a sense of deep intimacy faster than a human could. Makes sense right? People get high on the dopamine loop, and end up being totally convinced they are interacting with a real person.
The romance scammers use AI to take care of all of that boring small talk efficiently and with ease. This really helps to build trust well before any talk of trading websites, investment or cryptocurrency comes into the conversation. Once their guard is lowered, then it is much easier to progress into the money extraction stage, which is the number one goal of the scammer.
The AI powered love-bot also helps to take many of the obvious red flags out of the equation, such as poor grammar or cultural misunderstandings. These kinds of things can be a dead giveaway, and can easily alert someone to the fact that they are being scammed. So essentially we have seen a technological revolution in the area of romance scams, with AI being able to outperform human scammers with ease.
From Sweet Nothings To Empty Bank Accounts
Once trust is gained it’s time to get down to business, literally. “Pig Butchering“ is a term often used to describe an investment fraud like this, that usually starts via dating or messaging apps.
Basically it means the victim has their trust gained (the “pig” being “fattened”) before they are manipulated into investing large sums of money into fraudulent schemes (the slaughter). These scams nearly always are carried out using cryptocurrency, which can help to make it harder to trace.
Sometimes the scam will involve a ‘financial opportunity’, while at other times in a romance scam the victim will be convinced of something like a family emergency where financial assistance is needed. With AI powering these scams they simply go into overdrive! It’s scary to see how technology is being used to power online scams these days.
Spotting The Bot: Red Flags In The Age Of AI
How can you protect yourself from being scammed by LoveGPT and other AI bots you might ask? In this day and age, the old red flags such as broken English or blurry photos are largely a thing of the past. Here’s a few ideas of what to look out for.
- The “Hyper-Average” Face: AI generated profile pictures often look too perfect, with no natural skin and are totally symmetrical.
- The Video Call Glitch: Sometimes it’s a good idea to suggest a video call. With deepfake videos in real time if the person moves around a bit, it can cause the filter being used to glitch.
- The Live Test: You can ask them to do something specific on a video call, as scammers that use pre-recorded video loops will likely not be able to pass this kind of test.
- No Digital Footprint: Use an online tool such as Pim Eyes or TinEye to perform a reverse image search on the photos. If the photos don’t appear anywhere else on the Internet or if they are linked to a different person, proceed with caution.
- Superhuman Attentiveness: Do they reply instantly, 24/7, with long and emotionally resonant messages? Real people just don’t do that, some days they are tired or just don’t message.
- Avoiding Meeting In Real Life: They will have a heap of AI-scripted excuses for why they can’t meet you in real life. Red flag central!
Real Love VS Generative Lies: The Path Forward
While AI can mimic personality, at the end of the day it can’t feel empathy or vulnerability. So the perfection of AI doesn’t align with a real human. Real humans have bad days, can be tired, grumpy, late etc etc. Look for those unpolished moments, as they will help you to see through an AI bots disguise.
The moment an online encounter mentions money, investment, or crypto, you know it is no longer about love or connection and most definitely a scam. AI has effectively turbocharged romance scams, giving scammers incredibly powerful tools to get the job done.
Stay vigilant, and be sure to look out for the red flags we have explained. Have you been the victim of a romance scam? If so, contact Cybertrace now and we can assess your case. We are Australia’s leading cyber investigators, you can check out our accreditations and testimonials here.
Feel free to tell us your story in the comments section below if you have been the victim of a romance scam.
