2019-06-01

Dating app scammers spotted by AI

The system was trained using almost 15,000 profiles from the free Dating 'N More website. The computer science project used data from the service because it publicly posts fake profiles when they are discovered.

Ultimately the team hopes to create an early warning system that can spot scammers as they set up accounts and begin the process of contacting victims.

The researchers said scams on dating sites and apps were hard to tackle because they were usually not large campaigns and were not generated automatically.

The researchers suggested their method could be harder to get around than some current approaches, which rely on blacklists and other basic technical tricks to thwart repeat offenders.

They added: "We aim to more broadly examine the available data on online dating fraud, seeking information actionable for enforcement and other countermeasures."