A retired academic has told how she was conned out of thousands of pounds in an elaborate romance fraud after scammers used artificial intelligence to fake videos and photos.
Nikki MacLeod was lonely after a long-term relationship ended and took to chatting to people online for company.
But the 77-year-old, of Edinburgh, is now warning of the dangers of internet scammers using AI technology after she was targeted as part of a scheme which led her to believe she was in an online relationship with a woman called Alla Morgan.
She was contacted by what she thought was a woman through a chat group and the pair started exchanging information.
Dr MacLeod even received a series of images and recorded video messages from the woman telling her about herself – all of which turned out to be fake.
Having no reason to doubt the woman was real, Dr MacLeod began sending her gift cards and making bank and Paypal transfers to her new companion, who claimed she was planning to visit her in Scotland.
But when one bank transfer failed to go through, she discovered she had been conned – ironically after those behind the fraud told her to contact her bank to find out why they failed to receive the money.
By this time, she had parted with £17,000, of which her bank has been able to recover £7,000.
But Dr MacLeod, a retired University of Edinburgh physiology and neuroscience lecturer, said the content they sent her was so convincing that it is no longer possible to tell ‘what’s real and what is not’ online.
The mother-of-four said: ‘The only safe way is not to trust anything. AI is fascinating for looking at MRI scans but this is outrageous.’
Recalling how it started she said: ‘I was just a bit lonely, my partner left and after a couple of years I started chatting to people online for company.
‘Then suddenly this person popped up on this [chat] site and started talking to me.
‘They targeted me deliberately.
‘I am not a stupid person but she was able to convince me that she was a real person and we were going to spend our lives together.’
She was led to believe the woman was working on an oil rig in the North Sea and was asked to buy gift cards to allow her to get an internet connection so they could keep chatting.
Dr MacLeod admitted she was sceptical when live video chats were turned down. But when she started to get recorded messages, it convinced her she was real.
‘Alla’ even told her that she was planning to visit Scotland and asked Dr MacLeod if she could pay for her holiday.
The pensioner was contacted by someone in the HR department where Alla Morgan supposedly worked, and was asked for money to pay for a helicopter. Dr MacLeod said: ‘She said she would pay me back, so I gave them $2,500.’
After attempts to block the scammers online on the advice of police, they have continued to try and contact her – most recently sending her a newspaper article claiming Alla Morgan is in a Turkish jail and needs more money.
Police Scotland said enquiries are ongoing after they received a report that a woman was the victim of an online financial fraud in October.
A spokesman added: ‘We ask people to be vigilant and encourage anyone who believes they may have been victim to fraud or a scam to contact police on 101.’
There is no way of knowing where the images of the supposed Alla Morgan came from.
The AI may be using the face of a real person with no connection to the scammers and no idea that their identity was used.