Woman loses savings to AI-powered romance scam featuring intimate video calls with deepfake…

A Filipino domestic worker was defrauded of her life savings after falling victim to a sophisticated romance scam that utilized deepfake technology to impersonate Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed. The victim, identified as Maria, was targeted on a dating site before moving conversations to WhatsApp, where she was subjected to weeks of persistent, affectionate messaging.

What happened

The scam involved a multi-stage process of social engineering and technical deception. After building rapport through text, the scammer initiated intimate video calls to solidify the illusion. During these calls, the victim observed an image that resembled the real prince, with lip-syncing that matched the caller's words, despite the voice not matching the actual Sheikh Hamdan.

Exploiting the victim’s trust, the fraudster requested 100,000 Philippine pesos (approximately $1,625) under the guise of paying for a marriage certificate and a royal membership card to secure employment in Dubai. This sum represented a year of the victim’s savings. When the perpetrator subsequently demanded an additional 60,000 pesos (about $974) for a hotel reservation, the victim began to investigate the associated Facebook account. She discovered the account was based in Nigeria and promptly severed contact. Researchers have linked such schemes to criminal syndicates operating in Nigeria that leverage AI to enhance their impersonation tactics. The scammers frequently exploit the prince’s large social media presence, utilizing his image, identity, and authentic poems to manufacture authenticity across various Facebook groups, often directing targets toward encrypted messaging platforms like WhatsApp or Telegram to continue the deception.