Australians looking for love are having their social media used against them as AI is used to tailor romance scams before Valentine's Day.
Scammers have long used intimacy to groom victims into opening up their wallets around the holiday.
But the rise of AI has allowed criminals to turbocharge their efforts and create scams that are highly sophisticated and even more emotionally manipulative, UNSW computer science lecturer Lesley Land warns.
The technology can be used to analyse people's social media profiles and craft romance scams targeted to each victim.
"Some people release a lot of personal information, so it might know you've become a single mum, just gone through a divorce, or you've lost a loved one," Dr Land told AAP.
"They can just just feed this into the computer learning machines, and automatically create conversations to lure potential victims."
Traditional romance scams would often require bad actors to speak with victims for months or years on end.
But AI can also automate romance scams, allowing frausters to expand their operations.
Since 2020, Australians have lost more than $220 million to dating and romance scams alone, according to CHOICE.
Many who fell victim did not want to talk about their experiences, which could make it hard to help them, Dr Land said.
"Lots of people have been scammed but they can be filled with shame," she said.
"People might ask: why were you deceived? Couldn't you see it coming?
"It's really very insidious because of the grooming process."
CHOICE and other consumer advocacy groups including Financial Counselling Australia, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network and more are calling on the federal government to address gaps in their proposed scam protections.
The Commonwealth's Scams Prevention Framework places no obligations on businesses where scams are rife such as dating apps, email services and online market places, according to the groups.
"Placing the burden on a broken-hearted consumer - at the lowest point in their life - to fight to get their money back when they are the victim is topsy-turvy," Financial Rights Legal Centre director Alexandra Kelly said.
Though some industries, such as banking, are using AI to try to stop scams before they reach customers, Dr Land also urges Australians to be more aware of scams and report any to police.
Flawless-looking photos, vague and repetitive answers on dating apps, and fast-moving relationships are clues to potential romance scams, according to the Australian Banking Association.
