AI romance scam impersonating Dubai prince ensnares victims
Researchers say the scheme uses lifelike video calls and forged fees to steal from victims, with some accounts traced to Nigeria.
- A Filipino domestic worker lost a year's savings to an AI-powered deepfake impersonating Prince Hamdan of Dubai, also known as Fazza, after meeting the scammer on a dating site before moving to messaging apps.
- Fraudsters exploit the Emirati royal's likeness using AI-powered face-swapping technology to create lifelike video chats with fabricated audio matching lip movements, ensnaring victims in romantic deception.
- The scammer manipulated Maria into paying 100,000 pesos for forged documents claiming to be a marriage certificate and "royal membership card," then demanded 60,000 pesos for a hotel meeting.
- Researchers trace these operations to crime syndicates in Nigeria, while a 'Stop Fazza Scam' petition urges Sheikh Hamdan's staff to raise awareness and combat the spreading fraud.
- Cornell University's David Rand warned that improving AI technology will make real-time deepfakes increasingly indistinguishable from authentic conversations, part of a broader global scam ecosystem costing consumers $442 billion last year.
13 Articles
13 Articles
SCIENCE & TECH: Woman loses savings in AI scam with deepfake ‘Dubai prince’
A Filipino woman thought she had found love with Dubai’s charismatic crown prince after weeks of flirtatious messages and intimate video calls. Instead, she became the latest victim of an increasingly sophisticated AI-powered romance scam that uses deepfake technology to impersonate Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the heir to Dubai’s throne, according to AFP. The woman, a domestic worker identified only as Maria, said she met a scammer posing as the…
AI romance scam impersonating Dubai prince ensnares Pinay OFW
Maria believed she was romancing a prince from Dubai, captivated by his flirtatious smile and declarations of affection he showered on her during live video calls. But the suitor was an AI deepfake, making her yet another victim of an online romance scam.
Radio France Internationale
AI romance scam impersonating Dubai prince ensnares victims
The case illustrates how fraudsters posing as the real-life crown prince of Dubai ensnare victims by cultivating online relationships before swindling them out of money, with researchers tracing some of the scams to crime syndicates in Nigeria. Maria met the scammer impersonating Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed, also known by his pen name Fazza, on a dating site before the conversation moved to a messaging app where he bombarded her with romantic mes…
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