SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A Utah woman says she fell in love with someone who wasn’t who he said he was and almost lost everything because of it.
For nine months, Anola Johnson believed she was helping the man she loved. They texted, they talked, they planned a future — but the person on the other end of the line wasn’t real.
“I remember it felt like the room was just spinning,” she said, realizing in that moment that the man she had sent money to wasn’t real. “I didn’t know what to do, I had already given him everything I had.”
Researchers say AI tools are now fueling a new wave of romance scams, sextortion and online catfishing schemes that are convincing enough to fool even the most skeptical people. Experts warn that anyone could be targeted, but young users are especially vulnerable as artificial intelligence blurs the line between connection and deception. “How many more bad actors are going to try this strategy now that it’s so easy to generate this content in a very fast and efficient way,” said Brandon Amacher, director of the Emerging Tech Policy Lab at Utah Valley University.
Thursday on 2News at 10 p.m., Jim Spiewak will show you how these scams are evolving, and what you need to do to prevent AI from crossing the line into heartbreak.
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