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Scammers now use AI. You can still spot them.

Short, clear guides to the scams growing fastest, and exactly who to call if it is happening to you or someone you love.

Is it a scam? Check in 1 minuteWhere to get help
Meionline
  1. Hi Sarah? It’s Mei from the dinner last week 😊1
  2. Sorry, wrong number!
  3. Oh no, sorry! You seem really kind though. Friends? 🌸
  4. My uncle showed me a trading app. I made 30% this month 📈2
  5. Don’t tell your family yet. They wouldn’t understand us.3

A typical first conversation. Each number marks a warning sign.

  1. A stranger starts the chat by “mistake”.
  2. Easy money appears.
  3. Secrecy. Scammers cut you off from people who would warn you.
Belindaonline
  1. Hey! How’s it going? It’s Belinda, we used to work together years ago 😊1
  2. Really? Sorry, I don’t remember.
  3. You look great in your photo. I always liked you. I’m in town today, let’s meet tonight! ❤️2
  4. Oh no, my car broke down 😩 I need a hotel tonight but my card won’t work. Can you send me the money? I’ll pay you back when we meet.3
  5. Please don’t tell your friends about us. They’d only be jealous 😘4

A typical romance scam. Each number marks a warning sign.

  1. A “former colleague” you can’t remember gets in touch.
  2. Instant flattery, and a rush to meet.
  3. The meeting falls through, and an emergency needs your money.
  4. Isolation. Your friends would spot the scam, so they must not know.
Tinaonline
  1. Good morning, my love ☀️ Three weeks of talking every day and I can’t stop thinking about you ❤️1
  2. Only two more months at the clinic overseas, then I’m all yours.2
  3. Can we video call tonight?
  4. I can’t, I’m at the police station 😢 A problem with my work permit. Pay a fine or spend the night in jail, and my card is blocked here.3
  5. Can you buy gift cards and send me the codes? Please don’t tell anyone, they wouldn’t understand us 💔4

A romance scam, three weeks in. Each number marks a warning sign.

  1. Big feelings fast, from someone you’ve never met.
  2. A job abroad, so meeting is always months away.
  3. No video call, then an emergency: pay tonight or she goes to jail.
  4. Gift cards and secrecy. Only scammers ask for gift cards.
Davidonline
  1. You’re gorgeous 😍 Send me a photo? Just for me. I’ll send one first 😉1
  2. Photo
  3. Ok, I’ll send you one
  4. I’ve saved your photo and a list of your friends and family. Pay now or they all get it.2
  5. Gift cards or crypto. You have 1 hour ⏰3
  6. Tell anyone or go to the police and I post it everywhere.4

Sextortion. You are not alone: the FBI gets about 200 reports a day. Each number marks a warning sign.1

  1. Flirting very fast, then “send me a photo”. Their photos are stolen or fake.
  2. Within minutes, a threat to send it to your friends and family.
  3. A payment that’s hard to trace, and a countdown to make you panic.
  4. “Tell no one.” Tell someone anyway, and don’t pay: paying rarely stops it.
Lauraonline
  1. Glad we moved here 😊 I never check that dating app1
  2. Photo
  3. Just for you 🙈 Your turn. Show me your face too 😘2
  4. I have your photo, your profile and all your followers. Send $500 - Apple gift cards - in 30 minutes or they all see it.3
  5. Please, I don’t have that much
  6. Then $200 now. Pay and I delete it all.4

Sextortion targets adults too: most reports to the FBI in 2025 came from adults. Each number marks a warning sign.1

  1. She moves you off the site where you met, to a private app.
  2. She sends a photo first so you feel you owe her one. The photo is stolen, and asking for your face is what makes the threat work.
  3. Minutes later comes a threat that uses your own followers list, with a deadline.
  4. Say you can’t pay and the price drops. Don’t pay: they keep coming back for more.

The scams

Choose one to see how it works, the warning signs and what to do.

Love and friendshipRomance scamsA fake admirer builds a loving relationship online, then asks for money.
Money risk
Emotional harm
Love and friendshipPig butcheringA new online friend shows you how to “invest”. The profits are fake. The losses are real.
Money risk
Emotional harm
Threats and blackmailSextortionSomeone threatens to share intimate images unless you pay. It is a crime, and it is not your fault.
Money risk
Emotional harm
Money and jobsFake investment platformsProfessional-looking apps and websites that show profits that do not exist.
Money risk
Emotional harm
Fake calls and fake peopleCloned voices: “Mum, I’m in trouble”A call in the voice of someone you love, asking for money now.
Money risk
Emotional harm
Fake calls and fake peopleDeepfake videos and fake celebrity adsVideos of real people saying things they never said.
Money risk
Emotional harm
Fake calls and fake peopleFake bank adviser or fake policeA caller from “your bank’s fraud team” asks you to move or “protect” your money.
Money risk
Emotional harm
Fake calls and fake peopleFake texts and emailsA parcel, a fine, a refund, and a link that steals your details.
Money risk
Emotional harm
Money and jobsJob and “task” scamsEasy money for liking videos or rating products, until you have to pay to get paid.
Money risk
Emotional harm
Money and jobs“We’ll get your money back” scamsAfter a scam, fake lawyers, hackers or police offer to recover your money, for a fee.
Money risk
Emotional harm
Fake calls and fake peopleFake tech supportA pop-up or call says your computer is infected. The “technician” wants control, and payment.
Money risk
Emotional harm

Three rules that stop most scams

  1. Money + stranger online = stop.

    Never send money, gift cards, crypto or codes to someone you only know online.2

  2. Hang up and call back.

    Use a number you find yourself: on your card, in your banking app, in your contacts.34

  3. Rush + secret = scam.

    “Act now” and “tell no one” are there to stop you thinking. Tell someone.56

What AI changes

The tricks are old. AI makes them faster, cheaper and more convincing.

  • Faces that don’t exist

    People spot AI-made faces only 48% of the time.7

  • Voices you trust

    Cloned voices of loved ones are used in fake emergency calls.8

  • Video calls that lie

    A whole video meeting of fake colleagues cost one firm about $25 million.6

  • Messages without mistakes

    The FBI logged over 22,000 scam complaints involving AI in 2025.1

Why this matters

  • $20.9 billion reported lost to online crime in the US in 2025, from more than 1 million complaints. People over 60 lost the most.9
  • 5–10% of frauds are reported in Canada, so the real harm is far bigger. Reporting matters.10
  • 220,000+ people may be held in scam compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia and forced to scam others, according to the UN.11

See it for yourself

Safe demonstrations of what scammers can do. No real victims, no real scams.

All demonstrations
Demonstration coming soon

Real or AI? The face game

Can you tell real faces from AI-made ones? Most people can’t.

Demonstration coming soon

Inside a romance scam chat

Scroll through a scripted chat. Each trick is explained as it happens.

Demonstration coming soon

Sextortion: what to do next

Answer a few questions and get clear next steps and the right contacts.

Help where you are

Chosen automatically. You can change it.
All contacts and next steps

Sources

  1. Official source2025 IC3 Annual ReportFBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (USA), 2026-04. Accessed September 24, 2026.
  2. Official sourcePorter plainte pour une escroquerie aux sentiments (THESEE)Justice.fr / Service-Public.fr (France), 2024-07-05. Accessed September 24, 2026.
  3. Industry bodyStop, hang up, call 159Stop Scams UK. Accessed September 24, 2026.
  4. Official sourceLa Banque de France met en garde face à l’arnaque téléphonique aux faux agents de la Banque de FranceBanque de France, 2023-06-07. Accessed September 24, 2026.
  5. Official sourceElder Fraud: avoiding scams and swindles (fear, hope and love tactics)U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Alabama, Department of Justice. Accessed September 24, 2026.
  6. News reportBritish engineering giant Arup revealed as $25 million deepfake scam victimCNN, 2024-05-16. Accessed September 24, 2026.
  7. Peer-reviewed studyAI-synthesized faces are indistinguishable from real faces and more trustworthyNightingale S.J. & Farid H., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119(8): e2120481119, 2022-02-14. Accessed September 24, 2026.
  8. News reportFBI: Seniors lost $7.75B to cybercrime in 2025 (summary of the IC3 elder fraud data)HousingWire, 2026-04-14. Accessed September 24, 2026.
  9. Official sourceCryptocurrency and AI Scams Bilk Americans of Billions (2025 Internet Crime Report)Federal Bureau of Investigation (USA), 2026-04-09. Accessed September 24, 2026.
  10. Official sourceFraud Prevention Month: Canadians lost over $704 million to fraud in 2025Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre / Competition Bureau (Canada), 2026-03-06. Accessed September 24, 2026.
  11. Official sourceHundreds of thousands trafficked into online criminality in Southeast Asia (report briefing)UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), via UN Geneva newsroom, 2023-08-29. Accessed September 24, 2026.
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