While Valentine’s Day is a day of celebrating love, it is also a day where scammers and cyber criminals can look to capitalise on our special moments. This year, they’re better equipped than ever…
Dr Jason Nurse, a Cyber Security expert at the University’s Institute of Cyber Security for Society (iCSS), explains how cyber criminals are using AI in romance scams and provides his top tips for staying safe online:
‘Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), and platforms like ChatGPT, are great for helping us in our daily lives but they are also being used by criminals for an increasing number of scams. In particular, we have now entered an era where ChatGPT-like systems are used to facilitate romance scams.
‘LoveGPT is one example and works by engaging unsuspecting users looking for love, with a fake profile and authentic-sounding conversations. It has been found targeting platforms such as Tinder, Bumble, Plenty of Fish (POF) and Bumble.
‘As online dating has become increasingly popular, especially around special days like today, there is a significant risk that many people may meet a special someone that isn’t actually real. Instead, it’s a scammer pulling the strings of an AI system.
‘In these cases the scammer is often aiming to nudge the victim into oversharing personal information – which can later be used for fraud or identity theft, sharing potentially sensitive photos – to be used for sextortion, or catfishing – to lead to financial loss, reputation compromise, or general emotional distress.’
Dr Nurse’s top tips for being safe when dating online are:
- Avoid sharing too much personal information – This includes your private photos, home address, birthdate, financial information, etc.
- Ask to meet face-to-face in a public place to verify their identity. Also be aware that video calls can be faked (also known as deepfakes), so even this isn’t clear proof.
- Always be cautious with any requests for money, vouchers, or gifts, regardless of how believable the reason may be.
- Check if profile photos are reused. A Google reverse image search can be used, but also be aware that AI platforms like DALL-E allow the creation of completely new and original images.
- There’s no way (yet) to definitively tell whether you’re speaking with an AI system hidden behind a profile. It’s therefore best to always be a bit cautious until you verify the person’s identity.
Dr Jason Nurse, is a Reader in Cyber Security at Kent’s School of Computing and is Public Engagement lead for the Institute of Cyber Security for Society (iCSS). His research focuses on the interaction between users and aspects of cyber security, privacy and trust.