ATLANTA — With Valentine’s Day coming this weekend, experts are warning about a rise in romance scams that are becoming more deceptive.
Former FBI counterterrorism agent and cybersecurity expert Eric O’Neill said cyber criminals are using new technology to make scams more convincing.
“The fact that now cyber criminals can craft an entire avatar and persona using hyper-realistic AI voice, image, and video is causing people to fall for them at an accelerated rate,” O’Neill said.
O’Neil said scammers often create scenarios where they urgently need money and ask victims to keep the situation private.
“They’ll say ‘please keep this confidential, it’s pretty embarrassing, don’t tell anyone, don’t tell any of your friends,’ because they don’t want you to have that second set of eyes on the relationship,” O’Neill said.
He said scammers also use information shared online to target victims.
“They’ll use an espionage tactic which is reconnaissance, and learn everything about you by looking at what we put out into the world, mostly on social media. And using generative AI they can craft a perfect person that is going to be incredibly attractive to you,” O’Neill said.
O’Neil said nearly $19 billion a year is lost to romance scams. He said hundreds of Georgians fall victim every year, losing millions of dollars.
He said people should never give money to someone they have never met in person and should avoid moving conversations off dating platforms until they are sure the person is real.
WSB Radio’s Sabrina Cupit contributed to this story.