I was scammed out of £20,000 by AI-generated US Army colonel who promised me a briefcase full of £607k CASH

AN ELDERLY carer was scammed retired of £20,000 by an AI-generated US Army colonel who promised her £607,000 successful cash.

The hyperrealistic computer-generated quality convinced the pistillate to manus implicit her savings successful speech for the hefty currency sum.

The elaborate strategy progressive the scammer pretending that his woman had died and claiming that the unfortunate would beryllium sent a briefcase with £607,000 of beingness security money.

The victim, who wished to stay anonymous, was convinced to wage astir £10,000 for transportation of the case, and past a further £10,000 to unlock it.

Eventually she grew impatient and broke into it lone to find that it contained a blank expanse of paper, confirming the hoax.

The fraudster utilized personalised AI-generated videos successful which the fake colonel claimed that helium loved her, and sent gifts via station similar cards and flowers, successful bid to look convincing.

The unfortunate reported the lawsuit to the National Fraud helpline, who is helping to retrieve the stolen money.

Martin Richardson, a elder spouse astatine National Fraud Helpline, said: “This scam is 1 of the astir elaborate we person ever seen successful that it involves AI arsenic good arsenic carnal items being sent done the post.”

Last year, £459.7 cardinal was stolen successful these types of scams, according to the Payment Systems Regulator.

It comes aft telecommunications steadfast O2 precocious released their service of AI scam-busting bots, which are designed to imitate aged radical - communal scam targets - and discarded fraudsters’ time.

One of these bots, Daisy (D-AI-sy) stalls fraudsters by saying things like: “I remember… Being calved successful 1945 but the nonstop date… Oh dear.”

The colonel scammer initially started messaging the unfortunate connected dating app Tinder, earlier sending her realistic AI-generated videos of the fake antheral which further enhanced his deception.

Scams person go much prevalent and precocious successful caller years, with immoderate describing the UK arsenic being successful a "scamdemic".

One survey recovered the fig falling for online emotion scams successful the UK had shot up much than a 25% successful the six months to October.

Hundreds of customers astatine 1 slope unsocial handed implicit astir £3.8million to the con betwixt March and August.

That was a 27 per cent leap from conscionable implicit £3million reported stolen to Santander between August 2023 and this March.

The mean nonaccomplishment was £4,500 and customers aged 18 to 93 were targeted.

The bank’s canvass of 2,000 radical recovered fractional had received unsolicited online flirtatious messages they suspected oregon confirmed to beryllium a scam.

Nearly a 3rd said they would offer money to a romanticist spouse they had known for little than six months.

But astir two-thirds reckon they would ne'er autumn for a romance fraud.

In the twelvemonth to June 2024, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), tally by the City of London Police, received 8,792 reports of romance fraud, amounting to losses of implicit £94.7 million.