AI-powered romance scams target Boomers, but younger generations more defrauded

Real-time AI deepfakes are creating a dangerous new frontier in internet scams, particularly targeting vulnerable populations like the elderly. Fraudsters are now using generative AI technology to alter their appearance and voices during live video conversations, allowing them to convincingly impersonate trusted individuals or create attractive fake personas. This evolution of scam technology is making even video verification—once considered relatively secure—increasingly unreliable as a means of establishing someone’s true identity.

The big picture: Scammers are deploying sophisticated AI filters during live video calls to completely transform their appearance and voice, creating nearly undetectable fake identities.

• A recent investigation by 404 Media documented cases where scammers used real-time deepfake technology to appear as different genders, ages, and ethnicities during video calls.
• In one example, a young Black man appeared as an older white man with a grey beard, while in another instance, a male scammer presented himself as a young woman.

Common tactics: Once scammers establish trust through their convincing AI-altered personas, they typically execute several types of fraud schemes.

• Romance scams target lonely individuals looking for companionship, building emotional connections before requesting money.
• Medicare fraud exploits elderly concerns about healthcare coverage to extract sensitive personal information.
• Photo verification schemes undermine what was previously considered a reliable identity check method.

Particularly concerning: The “grandparent scam” represents an especially troubling application where criminals use AI to impersonate family members’ voices.

• These scammers create urgent scenarios claiming the “grandchild” needs immediate financial help.
• One Canadian grandmother targeted for $9,000 CAD admitted, “I was anxious to get the money out; I’d do anything for my grandchildren.”

Vulnerability across generations: While older adults are common targets, research shows younger populations are actually more susceptible to certain types of financial fraud.

• A 2021 study found Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X were 34 percent more likely than those over 60 to lose money to fraud.
• Younger generations tended to fall victim to different scam categories, particularly fake products and cryptocurrency schemes rather than romance scams.

Why this matters: As generative AI technology becomes more accessible and convincing, traditional methods of verifying someone’s identity online are becoming increasingly unreliable, creating new security challenges for everyone.