Catfishing Scams Surge Across These States
Meeting real connections can be hard online, with embellished bios, facetuned pictures, and AI bots on fake accounts. Experts say too much time on dating apps can be bad for your mental health, too. What’s worse is that some people are catfishing on these apps and costing users a lot of time and money.
A new study reveals that Arizona residents are the biggest victims of catfishing, 1,084 costing people more than $43.5 million in stolen or ill-gotten money. People conducted approximately 6,500 searches to get help with catfishing. Other states with high numbers of catfishing scams include Pennsylvania, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, New Mexico, New Hampshire, and Delaware. Ironically, this data was collected by Seduced AI, a platform for creating AI pornography, which is part of the problem with catfishing and deepfakes.
A spokesperson from Seduced AI said, “Millions of dollars lost show that the problem isn’t just naivety. Romance scammers use AI more than ever to create deepfake photos and videos that can deceive not only real humans but AI-testing tools, too. The old ‘reverse image search’ trick also doesn’t work anymore, because catfishers can generate unique, realistic faces that don't exist anywhere online. The gap between what scammers can create and what victims can detect is widening, not closing.”
How to Spot a Scam
For people on dating apps, be wary of someone who sends lots of messages to establish trust, and then asks for a lot of personal information, anything regarding financial details, and asks for money. If someone claims to be a celebrity, do your due diligence to fact-check. The chances are slim.
The Federal Trade Commission Lists The Top Lies
Here are some of the most common stories people make up to get information or money from potential romantic partners.
- I’m sick, hurt, or in jail.
- I can teach you to invest.
- I’m in the military, far away.
- I need help with an important delivery.
- We’ve never met, but let’s talk about marriage.
- I’ve suddenly come into money.
- You can trust me with your private pictures.
Stay safe out there.