I thought I'd found love online… but my 'girlfriend' was an AI-generated fake that ended up conning me out of £17k A retired academic has told how she was conned out of thousands of pounds in an elaborate romance fraud after scammers used artificial intelligence to fake videos and photos.
Nikki MacLeod, 77, was targeted after she took to chatting to people online when a relationship ended.
Nikki MacLeod was lonely after a long-term relationship ended and took to chatting to people online for company.
Having no reason to doubt the woman was real, Dr MacLeod began sending her gift cards and making bank and Paypal transfers to her new companion, who claimed she was planning to visit her in Scotland.
But Dr MacLeod, a retired University of Edinburgh physiology and neuroscience lecturer, said the content they sent her was so convincing that it is no longer possible to tell ‘what’s real and what is not’ online.
