A story of how a romance scammer used AI-generated images of Brad Pitt to con a French woman out of $850,000 has made global headlines, sparking widespread incredulity about how someone could fall for such a scheme. However, experts warn that scams using manipulated images and deepfakes are becoming more common as advances in technology make such fabrications increasingly convincing. “These types of scam are certainly not new, but have definitely become more popular with the rise of AI,” Komninos Chatzipapas, the founder of HeraHaven.AI told Newsweek. “This one may seem a bit extreme due to the huge amount involved, and the fact that the person was willing to go public with the story, but I’m sure they’re far from being the only one. “This isn’t about the person’s intellectual ability either. High quality deepfakes were just not possible two years ago. And it can be quite reality-breaking for a person that doesn’t know this can be done to receive these pictures.” The victim, named only as Anne, faced a storm of online ridicule, with the scrutiny becoming so intense that her interview on the program Sept à Huit was pulled from the French channel TF1’s platforms.

Ilia Badeev, Head of Data Science at Trevolution Group, explains why intellect does not always protect us. Click here to read the full article.