‘I was vulnerable’: A Florida woman was tricked into sending a scammer she thought was Keanu Reeves $160K before she realized she’d been duped with AI — watch out for these red flags online

How an AI scam led to a huge financial loss

According to Ringstaff, she talked with the scammer who was pretending to be Reeves for a long time before the requests for money began.

The alleged Reeves also seemed to have good reasons for needing the money, telling Ringstaff that not only was he being sued by a former manager, but the FBI had also planted drugs in his home and the courts froze his assets during the investigation. The scammer told Ringstaff she needed to send him tens of thousands of dollars in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in order to get out of this mess.

"I said, 'but why don't you have a bank account?'" said Ringstaff, who lives in Tampa Bay, Florida. But since she believed the faux-Keanu’s story and wanted to help, Ringstaff took out a home equity loan and sold her car in order to send the scammer $160,000.

She also provided the scammer with personal information, which — according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office — had enabled the scammer to funnel money from other victims into her accounts.

The entire ordeal left Ringstaff feeling embarrassed and gullible. "I just hope that nobody is as stupid and naive as I was," said Ringstaff.

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How common are romance scams?

Ringstaff may feel awful for falling for such tricks, but the unfortunate truth is she's not the first and likely won’t be the last person to be victimized by this type of scam. According to the Federal Trade Commission, more than 64,000 romance scams were reported in the U.S. in 2023, with the financial losses totaling $1.14 billion.

With the rise of AI, online scams such as this are becoming more prevalent. Research from McAfee, the virus protection software, indicates that 26% of people have either been approached by an AI chatbot acting as a real person on a dating or social media app, or they know someone who has.

Thanks to AI images and voice generation, celebrity imposter scams are much easier to fall for these days. In fact, 21% of people have reportedly been contacted by someone pretending to be a famous celebrity, while 33% of those who fell for it sent money — with an average reported loss of $1,985.

How to protect yourself from romance scams

One of the factors that can explain why romance scams are so successful is that they prey on a target’s loneliness and vulnerability. This is precisely what happened with Ringstaff.

"I was vulnerable, I just lost my boyfriend," Ringstaff explained. "And then later that summer in 2022, my dog died."

Now, Ringstaff has some advice for others who may be targeted by an AI romance scam.

"Knowing what I know now and all the technology that's out there, can fake voices and everything else. It will never happen again," Ringstaff said. "But I just want to let people know not to be naive and stupid and do your research and don't give anybody your personal information unless you already know them."

Beyond Ringstaff’s advice, there are other ways to avoid becoming the target of a successful AI romance scam.

1. Be realistic: If someone or something seems too good to be true, it probably is. In this instance, it’s very unlikely that a celebrity such as Keanu Reeves would contact a random woman out of the blue to start a relationship.

2. Look for the AI red flags: There are a few things to look for that can help you figure out whether a video is produced by AI.

• Body language: AI doesn’t always capture the appropriate body language exhibited by humans, like blinking. If the person you’re speaking with doesn’t blink, that could be a red flag.
• Lighting: Keep an eye out for strange blurs, shadows or flickers of light where such a thing shouldn’t exist.
• Irregular audio: Listen carefully to the person you’re speaking with and if you notice any flat or unnatural tones, strange background noises or statements that sound choppy, that could also be a red flag.

3. Take the chat offline: Don't talk with an online friend or love interest for longer than a few weeks without arranging to meet in person and confirm they are who they claim to be. You should be skeptical of anyone you’ve met online who seems to have one excuse after the other in order to avoid meeting in person.

4. Never send money: Don’t ever, under any circumstances, send money to anyone you’ve met online, particularly in an untraceable or irrevocable form like cryptocurrency.