We’re all used to the typical catfish stories by now, people pretending they look like someone else, people heavily editing their pictures or people just lying about their age and background.
But this woman experienced it on a whole other, much darker level when she thought she’d hit it off with an army colonel on Tinder.
The bloke would send her videos in his uniform and even began sending her gifts in the post before the dark truth emerged.
She had been single for over 20 years when she came across ‘Mike Murdy’ on the dating site, who claimed he was 61 and was being sent on one last mission to Cuba before his retirement.
He sent videos in his uniform. (National Fraud Helpline)
Care worker Mary, in her 60s, began receiving videos from him which would reference her name and their recent conversations.
“He sent me a video, dressed in his uniform. He looked quite handsome,” she told The Mirror.
As the chats continued, he told her his wife had died of cancer five years before and he had no family or children.
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Believing he was genuine, Mary gave Murdy her address and within a few days, she received a box of trinkets and keepsakes. There was also a card reading: “You’re the one I want to be with, now and forever.”
But after gifts like this, he told the woman he needed her help cashing in his wife’s insurance policy.
Turns out it was all AI. (National Fraud Helpline)
She then received a briefcase supposedly containing the equivalent of £607,000, but an accompanying letter supposedly from Fort Knox explained: “To gain access to the briefcase you need to obtain a six-digit access code. This code can be generated upon receipt of a payment of £10,000.”
Videos explained he loved her and the payments would help unlock it, but they soon got aggressive as he accused her of being ‘more focused on money’ than on their relationship.
After a final £10,000 payment, she lost patience and cracked open the briefcase to find it full of blank paper.
It turns out ‘Mike Murdy’ was totally fake and part of the new generation of ‘AI conmen’.
Falling victim to this AI scam, the National Fraud Helpline have been helping Mary recover her money on a no win, no fee basis.
She said: “It’s been heartbreaking. I haven’t told anyone what happened. I’m too embarrassed.
“It’s really scary to think the fraudsters have just created these videos. I’ve never been conned like this in my life.”
Senior Partner at National Fraud Helpline, Martin Richardson, said: “This scam is one of the most elaborate we have ever seen in that it involves AI as well as physical items being sent through the post.
“Our client is a woman in her 60s who was sent videos of a man describing her situation, gifts through the post, such a jewellery and an ornament, plus letters, a card and ultimately the briefcase.
“Particularly for people unaware of AI, it understandable how they would fall for such a fraud. This is a frightening ratcheting up of scammer tactics.”
LADbible has contacted Tinder for comment.
English (US) ·