Forget Real Phishing. Catfishing With AI Is All The Rage

Vesna Ergarac
Jun 2
3 min read

Welcome to the era of synthetic soulmates, cloned charm, and chat-bots who say "I love you" better than your ex ever did.

I used to think the worst thing that could happen online was falling for a phishing scam. You know, the fake parcel text, the dodgy email from “your bank,” the classic click-here-to-confirm trap. I even fell for the 'Australia Post' scam years ago. But you can forget all that, because the new game in cyberspace has arrived — and it doesn’t want your password. It wants your heart.

Welcome to the world of AI-powered catfishing, where the perfect partner doesn’t just exist — he (or she) has been cleverly engineered, where “good morning beautiful” isn’t from a partner who cares… It’s from a chat-bot trained on 40,000 Reddit threads. And where love bombing is automated.

What Is AI Catfishing?

AI Catfishing happens when scammers (or very emotionally manipulative users) use artificial intel to create fake personas and simulate emotional connection. This could be anything from a chat-bot pretending to be your BFF, or a deepfake video of someone flirting with you. Or, it could simply be text messages that sound too perfect to be true, because they were crafted by an AI Agent. This is deception at scale, enhanced by algorithms and psychology.

Some scammers will use AI-generated profile pictures (made with tools like ThisPersonDoesNotExist); some will use AI chat scripts or romance chatbots (trained to mimic real emotion), and others will use behavioural mirroring, obtained by pulling the tone and language of your conversations directly from your messages.

The goal? To gain your trust, access your emotions, and ultimately, your hard-earned money.

How it works... from Flirt to Exploit

Here’s what’s scary - these bots don't just send "Hi, beautiful" messages and emails ("Hi Dear" is no more, too transparent). They will engage with you on a one-on-one basis. They will form personal rapport, ask about your day, mirror your feelings, share some trauma to create emotional bonding... where you will feel seen. Understood. Valued. Admired... maybe even loved. But the truth is - this is NOT love. This is what is called programmed chemistry. And behind it is often a scammer with a dashboard.

The Psychological Fallout

Victims of AI Catfishing often report deep confusion, heartbreak, and shame, because they are grieving a relationship that didn’t exist. It is because their emotions were real, even if the person didn't exist. That kind of betrayal leaves digital bruises that can take long time to heal. The thing is, because many people feel embarrassed, they don’t talk about their experiences, which means more victims fall for the same scripts, over and over again.

Real Life Examples of AI Catfishing

A couple of recent cases come to mind: one was the case of a woman in the US who recently reported a “long-distance relationship” with a man she’d been video chatting for months. It turned out it was an AI deepfake video + pre-scripted chatbot interaction. The scammers used her emotional vulnerability to drain her savings and she lost over USD 60,000.00!! Another case in Asia involved an AI-generated fake female executive who flirted, shared stories, and even had a LinkedIn profile. The victim never suspected she was a fake until he was scammed for his investments.

Red Flags to Look Out For... and How to Protect Yourself

They always text back perfectly, but will never video chat live with you.
Their profile pic looks real, but reverse image search will give you nothing.
They love-bomb quickly, share personal trauma early, or ask for emotional support
They want to move conversations with you off public apps and into encrypted or private platforms (WhatsUp app comes to mind)

To guard yourself (and your heart), make sure to always:

Reverse image search profile pics, without fail
Ask to meet them in person, or at best, have a live video call in the first week or so
Look for emotional inconsistencies in conversations, because AI bots can mimic words but not nuances
NEVER discuss or share financial info or send money - especially if you've never met them in person, even if they claim it is urgent

Final Thought

AI isn’t just changing technology. It’s changing trust, something that we can give far to easily once we are emotionally invested. So before you fall for that perfect online match who seems to say exactly what you want to hear... ask yourself: Is this chemistry? Or is this code?

Because YOU deserve real connection - not artificial affection.