Anyone who has seen MTV’s Catfish — or Dr. Phil — knows that whomever you’re talking to online isn’t necessarily who they claim to be. However, a group of Nigerian scammers who call themselves Yahoo Boys are now deploying deepfake graphics technology to bilk the unsuspecting out of their hard-earned money.
Wired just published an extensive look into their operation — about which the scammers appeared “proud,” according to the article.
The technology allows them to digitally alter their faces in real time and sweet talk their marks.
Romance scams, even ones nowhere near this sophisticated, are nothing new. According to the FBI, they cost people more than $650 million last year.
However, the Yahoo Boys situation is something new: They have thousands of members and openly trade tech, tips, fake IDs and even scam scripts to each other, all to help their fellow scammers.
“They were not super convincing last year, when I checked them out,” says Rachel Tobac, the cofounder and CEO of SocialProof security, to the magazine. “This year, a lot has changed.”
She adds as the technology improves — including artificial intelligence — it’s only going to get worse for potential victims. She says the scammers are now “able to change the pitch of their voice and the look of their face — sometimes changing skin tone, hair, eye color, everything’s matched. It’s pretty wild.”
Ronnie Tokazowski, the chief fraud fighter at Intelligence for Good, which works with scammed victims, says, “This is kind of an early warning where it’s like: ‘OK, they’re really good at doing these things. Now, what’s the next thing they’re going to do?'”