For decades, romance scammers relied on stolen photos, broken English and far-fetched stories about being stranded overseas. Today, artificial intelligence has changed the game.
Modern romance scammers can create realistic photos of people who do not exist, generate convincing voices, conduct video chats using deepfake technology and carry on emotionally persuasive conversations around the clock. The result is a scam that feels less like an obvious con and more like a real relationship.
Americans reported losing roughly $1.3 billion to romance scams in 2025, according to data cited by the Associated Press and other reports, making it one of the most financially devastating forms of fraud.
The scam is surprisingly simple.
A stranger reaches out on Facebook, Instagram, a dating app or even through a seemingly innocent wrong-number text. The person is attractive, attentive and always available. They send good morning messages. They remember birthdays. They listen to problems. They quickly become the most supportive person in the victim’s life.
Then the excuses begin.
They’re working on an oil rig. They are deployed overseas. They are a contractor in a foreign country. They desperately want to meet, but something always happens. A medical emergency. A travel problem. A frozen bank account. An arrest. A visa issue. There is always a reason they cannot show up in person.
The request for money eventually follows.
Sometimes it is a few hundred dollars. Sometimes it is tens of thousands. Increasingly, the scammer claims to have discovered a fantastic cryptocurrency investment and offers to help the victim get rich. The victim isn’t just sending money to a lover. They believe they are building a future together.
Contrary to popular belief, the victims are not necessarily foolish.
Researchers have found that romance scam victims are often educated, trusting and emotionally vulnerable because of life changes such as divorce, widowhood, loneliness or isolation.
One recent victim, Jean Booth, maintained a relationship for months with a man known as “Donnie.” She had never met him in person and had never spoken with him on the phone. Yet she continued sending money despite recognizing on some level that something was wrong. The emotional attachment had become more powerful than the warning signs.
Another victim, identified by the FBI only as Rita, lost about $90,000 after being contacted by someone pretending to be a celebrity. She later said the messages became almost addictive and arrived during a particularly difficult period in her life while she was going through a divorce.
Perhaps even more striking is that some victims become repeat targets.
A widely discussed case involved a woman who was reportedly deceived by three separate online romance scammers over a period of years, ultimately losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Family members later said she was highly educated and technologically savvy, illustrating that intelligence alone is not a defense against emotional manipulation.
AI is making these scams even harder to spot.
The FBI has warned that scammers now use AI-generated images, synthetic voices and improved language tools to appear legitimate. Traditional clues such as bad grammar or obviously stolen profile photos are disappearing. Some scammers can even conduct video calls using deepfake technology to make victims believe they are talking to a real person.
There are still red flags to watch for.
If someone claims to love you within days or weeks, refuses to meet in person, insists on moving the conversation off a dating platform, constantly has emergencies, asks for cryptocurrency or requests gift cards, assume you are dealing with a scammer until proven otherwise.
The most important rule is also the simplest:
Never send money to someone you have never met in person.
Scammers can fake photos. They can fake voices. They can fake video. What they cannot fake forever is a real-world relationship.
