Spurning love scammers

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, scammers are actively on the prowl, targeting those yearning for some friendship, love, and romance only to pounce and steal the unsuspecting victims’ hard-earned cash or compromise their personal information.

Thus the urgent warning from Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian for the public to watch out for “love scams” that peak at this time of year and have become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Scammers scour social media profiles to target those who may be sweet-talked into coughing up money, take part in dubious investment schemes or, worse, be vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

These skilled scammers operate similarly to the banned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, but instead of facilitating online gambling, Gatchalian said that these criminal syndicates exploit legal loopholes to perpetrate crimes through the internet, including money-generating love scams that can victimize everyone, regardless of age, gender, or social status.

“It’s disheartening that some of our countrymen are tricked out of their hard-earned money. Others become victims of prostitution,” Gatchalian said.

He issued the warning following findings of the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) that love scams have evolved and become more sophisticated due to the use of AI.

Investment schemes

Scammers could, for example, create fake social media profiles complete with fake or AI-generated photos to present themselves as an ideal catch.

They also “love bomb” targets with a flurry of sweet messages to make them feel special, and thus believe that the online “relationship” is real and therefore more inclined to shell out funds to help or bail out the partner or through supposed investment schemes.

Last year, CICC received 123 formal complaints, with love scam cases typically climbing from January to February, June, and October, periods when people are more likely to seek friendship or a relationship online.

This number surely does not reflect the true extent of the severity of the impact of these love scams given how the majority of the victims are understandably reluctant to come forward because of shame.

According to ScamWatch Pilipinas cofounder Jocel de Guzman, these scammers target individuals who fall under five general profiles: adults seeking foreign partners who are seen as a ticket to a better life; financially stable professionals who may have difficulty finding their match in the “real world,” women pressured to marry as the biological clock ticks; men struggling with rejection, and then solo parents looking for a companion who may ease some of their burden.

“[These show] that scammers are exploiting vulnerability, not ignorance,” de Guzman stressed.

Six scammer profiles

It is not exactly difficult for the scammers to find these potential targets, unfortunately, as far too many Filipinos freely share sensitive information on their social media accounts or regularly post about how they are looking for a partner.

To take advantage of their potential vulnerability, the CICC and ScamWatch shared that scammers fall under six scammer profiles, red flags to be avoided.

There’s the so-called “Sad Boi, Sad Gurl,” who shares dramatic problems to gain sympathy from the target before luring them into giving money; the “Seducer,” who obtains compromising photos that can be used for blackmail; and the “Investor,” who proposes joint cryptocurrency schemes that the victim is seduced into investing in.

Then there’s the “Serviceman,” who lures older women into lending money by pretending to be a middle-aged military officer stationed in Asia, particularly the Middle East; the “Escort,” who uses explicit photos and then demands upfront payment ahead of a supposed in-person meeting; and finally the “Slow Burn,” who cultivates long-distance relationships then manipulates targets into sending money over a long period of time while avoiding face-to-face meetings.

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Emotional manipulation

“AI allows scammers to sustain emotional manipulation through fake identities, automated conversations, and staged interactions, making love scams more organized, more convincing, and more dangerous,” underscored CICC Acting Executive Director Aboy Paraiso.

Good thing then that the Philippine National Police is doing its part to stamp out these scams, from training members of the Anti-Cybercrime Group on AI detection and deepfake analysis to upgrading cybercrime equipment and closer coordination to with other government agencies and civil society groups to quickly take down scam operations.

But government authorities will not be able to eradicate the scams alone.

It is vital that Filipinos protect themselves by, among others, having a healthy dose of skepticism.

Do not immediately trust those who reach out to you online for they may not be who they say they are, especially when the conversations turn to money.

Once the money is transferred, the “relationship” invariably ends, but the pain from losing money or being taken for a fool will remain.

Thus heed age-old advice when it comes to romance: let the head rule over your heart. Foster relationships with eyes wide open.

Love, indeed, does not always have to be blind.