Be careful not to trust just anyone on dating sites! On Tinder, scammers are using artificial intelligence to create deepfakes and deceive their victims during video calls.
Dating apps can trigger butterflies in your stomach, but also turn into a nightmare. With the proliferation of fake scam accounts that fake romantic feelings to gain the affection and trust of their prey in order to extract money from them, users may be reluctant to make contact with strangers! The famous Tinder application is not spared from the problem and, on average, a quarter of its French users are victims of scams, according to Norton’s numbers. These are also the most profitable scams on the Internet, according to FBI reports. And it’s not likely to improve with the popularization of AI!
To protect their users, some platforms like Tinder have developed verification processes. A verified profile generally inspires trust, since the small blue badge indicates that the user has proven their identity to the platform with a real-time video selfie. But the truth is that today it is no longer a guarantee of security. As reported Wired, scammers, nicknamed the “Yahoo Boys”, are now using artificial intelligence to create deepfakes used during video calls to deceive their victims. And it can cost them dearly…
Tinder scam: deepfakes larger than life
Romantic scams rely on psychological manipulation strategies. Scammers, sometimes camouflaged behind attractive female profiles, engage in trusting and intimate relationships to be able to direct the conversation towards investments in cryptocurrencies via fake platforms, or even directly borrow money from victims using various pretexts. They can also take advantage of this to retrieve sensitive content and engage in sexual blackmail – this is called sextortion.
With the development of AI, cybercriminals have perfected their deception technique by creating profiles, verified and certified by the platforms, simply using two phones and facial modification applications. A first smartphone is used to capture and modify the scammer’s face in real time, while the second records this modified image to transmit it to the interlocutor of the dating site during a video call. To complete the subterfuge, the scammers use a stabilizer and professional lighting, which improves the visual quality. This image overlay technique makes fake profiles virtually undetectable during platform verification. This allows them to accredit their account, thereby boosting their credibility and making it easier to build trust with victims. Reassured by the small badge, they let down their guard and are then more willing to reveal personal information or make money transfers.
According to Wired, the Yahoo Boys have been using this deepfake technique for about two years. According to the FBI, more than $650 million was lost to victims in romance scams last year. Also, if you use apps like Tinder, Badoo or Bumble, be wary even of verified profiles and don’t share personal information and sensitive content too quickly. Try to verify the identity of your interlocutor by asking for their social networks. And, above all, do not transfer money with someone you have never met physically, it could cost you dearly!