Birmingham musician Becky Baldwin had her profile manipulated using deepfake technology to impersonate her and fool a Texan man in his 50s called Carl into an AI romance scam.
Becky Baldwin, 34, says: “As a musician, I have a lot of followers on social media and over the years, false profiles have been created for me. From time to time, people have created accounts in my name, uploaded photos of me and started contacting my fans.”
But in June, she received an email from Karl who clearly thought he was having an affair with her.
Becky, who is single, said: “Karl texted me out of the blue and said, “I’m so glad I don’t have to hear you asking for money all the time.” I was confused and said, “I would never do that.” I had never spoken to this man in my life.
“‘If it’s not you, why do I have a video of you saying my name?'” Carl continued.
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He sent Becky a video of herself and manipulated her AI into saying nice things to him.
Her mouth had been manipulated to say things like “Darling, we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together, believe me.”
The video was taken from Facebook and edited, but the audio was different.
Becky says: “Karl had never met me, so he was fooled.
“It was so real that I was shocked. I was really surprised.”
At first, Carl didn’t believe Becky because of the video. He explained that he was first contacted on Facebook in February and then moved to Telegram. Telegram is a popular method for scammers as it is more secure.
Karl revealed the details he shared with AI enthusiasts.
He also sent thousands of dollars to “AI Becky.”
Eventually, AI Becky’s constant demands for money drove Carl away.
“He said he should have known, but it felt good. He wanted it to be real,” said Becky, who did not go into the issue further, but did make a video to share with fans about the dangers of AI.
“The scary thing is that you can do anything with your images. Anyone can do this, and access to AI is universal,” she says.
Her job requires social media, but she is now very wary of it.
she says: “Tech companies should crack down on things like this.” That deterred me from creating content. What else could be distorted? ”
Crimestoppers says romance scammers lost £106 million in brutal scams in the UK last year and are finding new ways to exploit lonely hearts.
According to online security firm McAfee, almost three-quarters (74%) of Brits have encountered a potential romance scam through a dating app, 64% on social media and 56% through a text or email message.
Barclays statistics also show that one in 10 UK adults have been targeted or know someone who has been targeted, and romance scams have increased by 20% year-on-year.
Fraud investigators say that with the advent of AI, fraudsters are finding increasingly sophisticated ways to target victims.
Wayne Stevens, national fraud director at Victim Support, said: “Romance scams have been on the rise for several years. The advent of AI has made them more sophisticated, giving criminals new ways to exploit people’s trust and emotions.”
“Scammers can use AI tools to create convincing profiles, generate natural-looking messages, have conversations that feel personal and authentic, and even make fake video calls. This technology makes it harder to spot scams, but awareness and caution can greatly reduce the risk.”
Mr Stevens feels that romance fraud is a particularly cruel crime, adding: “The effects can be devastating both financially and emotionally. There is the heartbreak of finding out the relationship was a sham, which can lead to shame, embarrassment and loss of trust. Financially, victims can lose a lot of money, and in some cases all their savings.”
“Also, in some cases, personal information shared during fraud can be used by other criminals to commit further fraud.”
* victim support provides free, confidential assistance to anyone who has been a victim of fraud, whether or not the crime has been reported to the police. Call our support line on 08 08 16 89 111 or use our live chat at victimsupport.org.uk. We also offer a free online resource with a self-guided romance scam guide called My Support Space. This is perfect for people who want to explore support at their own pace.
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