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The Real-Time Deepfake Romance Scams Have Arrived
Watch how smooth-talking scammers known as “Yahoo Boys” use widely available face-swapping tech to carry out elaborate romance scams.
This self-shot video is one of scores posted online by scammers known as Yahoo Boys, a loose collective of con artists, often based in Nigeria. A WIRED review of the videos and three associated Yahoo Boy Telegram channels shows how the con artists’ techniques have evolved as deepfake applications and artificial intelligence have improved. Andrew Newell, the chief scientific officer at identity verification company iProov, says he has seen a “massive change” in the number of face-swapping systems being used in the last year, tracking more than 100 different tools.
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