Elderly Woman Loses £17,000 in Deepfake Romance Scam

A 77-year-old woman, Nikki MacLeod, has revealed to BBC Scotland that she was defrauded of £17,000 in an elaborate online romance scam, having been entirely convinced by deepfake videos. Ms. MacLeod transferred funds via gift cards, bank transfers, and PayPal, under the impression she was supporting a genuine woman with whom she had an online relationship. Initially skeptical, she stated that video messages from the individual reassured her, though she now recognizes these were fabricated. Ms. MacLeod aims to caution others about the growing deployment of AI technology by fraudsters. Last month, the retired lecturer from Edinburgh contacted BBC Radio Scotland’s Morning Programme during the BBC’s Scam Safe week. She shared: “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.” The 77-year-old explained that she felt isolated following the loss of her parents during lockdown and the conclusion of a long-term relationship. She began interacting with people online and encountered the person known to her as Alla Morgan within a chat group. This individual claimed to be employed on an oil rig in the North Sea and requested Steam gift cards to maintain communication. While these cards are typically for video games, the scammer asserted they were necessary for an internet connection on the rig, enabling their conversations to continue. Despite her skepticism, Ms. MacLeod was persuaded to purchase several hundred pounds’ worth of these cards. Her repeated requests for a live video call with Alla Morgan were either denied or unsuccessful, leading to her receiving recorded video messages instead. Nikki recounted her initial doubts, stating, “I had started to think, are you a real person?” She continued, “Then she sent me a video to say ‘Hi Nikki, I am not a scammer, I am on my oil rig’, and I was totally convinced by it.” A few weeks later, another video arrived, also purportedly from the oil rig with inclement weather in the background, preceding any requests for substantial sums of money. The images and videos sent to Ms. MacLeod were generated using AI technology. The origin of the image depicting the woman, Alla Morgan, remains unknown. It is possible the face of a real person, unconnected to the fraudsters and unaware of their identity’s misuse, was utilized. Ms. MacLeod indicated that the combination of documents, images, and videos she received was sufficient to convince her to part with her money. “She (Alla Morgan) said she was going to come and visit me and asked could I pay for her vacation from the oil rig to come to Scotland,” Nikki stated. Subsequently, Ms. MacLeod received details for a company Alla purportedly worked for and was contacted by someone claiming to be from its HR department, who requested funds for a helicopter. Nikki recalled, “She said she would pay me back, so I gave them $2,500.” The fraud was ultimately uncovered when Ms. MacLeod attempted to make an additional payment to a bank account, supposedly belonging to Alla Morgan, and her own bank alerted her that she was a victim of a scam. Police Scotland has confirmed that they are investigating the incident. BBC Scotland sought the expertise of Dr. Lynsay Shepherd, a specialist in cybersecurity and human-computer interaction at Abertay University, to examine the video messages sent to Ms. MacLeod. Dr. Shepherd observed: “At first glance it looks legitimate, if you don’t know what to look for, but if you look at the eyes – the eye movements aren’t quite right.” She added, “There are a number of apps out there, even something as simple as a face swap app or filters, that can do this. You can sometimes see when people are talking, when you look around the jawline, the filter kind of slips a bit. It is relatively straightforward to do.” Dr. Shepherd noted that online scammers frequently claim to be in locations where in-person meetings or even live video calls are impractical. She explained, “Oil rigs is one of the common ones – in the military on base, a doctor overseas – and then typically they build up that relationship and then say ‘there has been an emergency, I need some money for travel’.” Ms. MacLeod reported sending approximately £17,000 in total to the fraudsters. Her bank and PayPal managed to recover about £7,000 of this amount. However, she was convinced by the scammers to send some funds as personal payments, utilizing PayPal’s friends and family function, which has not been reimbursed. PayPal clarified that personal payments are not covered under PayPal Buyer Protection. A spokesman for the company issued a statement, saying: “We’re very sorry to hear this has happened to Ms MacLeod. Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, which includes romance scams, is a threat that has grown across the industry.” He advised PayPal users to exercise caution regarding “unusual payment requests” and to “always question uninvited approaches in case it’s a scam.” Steam’s website features warnings about an increase in reports of scammers pressuring victims to acquire Steam wallet gift cards. The company advises individuals never to provide a Steam wallet gift card to someone they do not know. Police Scotland stated that an investigation commenced after the fraud was reported in October, and inquiries are ongoing. A spokeswoman for the force urged: “We would 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.” Ms. MacLeod informed us that the scammers persist in contacting her, most recently by sending a newspaper article alleging Alla Morgan is now imprisoned in a Turkish jail and requires additional funds. She hopes others will learn from her ordeal. Nikki concluded: “These scammers don’t have any empathy at all. It’s their job and they are very good at it.” She emphasized, “The documents looked real, the videos looked real, the bank looked real. With the introduction of artificial intelligence, every single thing can be fake.”