There was a time when matrimonial websites would be a highly dependable matchmaking service platform. One could identify and converse with potential life partners in a dignified manner. They offered hope for the lovelorn too. Ironically, over the years, this platform has degenerated into a dating site. And as a recent report suggests, it has now become a fertile field for scammers who use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to lay traps.
A story has emerged of a hopeful groom who contacted a Bengali woman on a matrimonial website. Her profile portrayed her as a software professional, with a settled job and impressive education. It was enough to activate Cupid’s arrows. Their chats and subsequent audio calls made it all so believable.
Little did the man realise that it was a trap. The girl had him believe that she was in crisis and needed financial support. His judgment clouded, he offered help. Expectedly, the cries turned into extortion calls. It wasn’t long before he realised that the woman he dreamt of spending his life with never existed.
AI and ChatGPT are equipping cybercriminals with more tools to scale their attacks even on matri websites. Voices and images can be doctored to fabricate fictitious profiles and swindle credulous people.
The report highlighted another episode of a father who went to Jamnagar to verify the credentials of a potential groom who was profiled as a Class I officer on a matrimonial site.
He was overcome with shock and consternation when he learned this man died five years ago.
“Unscrupulous cyber fraudsters had manipulated his photographs and details, meticulously crafting an enticing and desirable profile using snippets from newspapers and social media. It was all part of an elaborate deceit,” a Gujarat police official was quoted as saying.
“We have recently uncovered over 5,000 fraudulent profiles of supposed grooms and brides lurking on the internet,” another official revealed.
In recent times, many reports have emerged of AI-generated images of fictitious people in sextortion schemes. Pretenders use fake accounts to target the uninformed. They use images of the gullible people, morph them into videos containing sexual content, and threaten to release the material unless the victim pays a certain amount. In many cases, the person involved panics and succumbs to threats.
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