A Filipino woman thought she had found love with Dubai’s charismatic crown prince after weeks of flirtatious messages and intimate video calls.
Instead, she became the latest victim of an increasingly sophisticated AI-powered romance scam that uses deepfake technology to impersonate Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the heir to Dubai’s throne, according to AFP.
The woman, a domestic worker identified only as Maria, said she met a scammer posing as the prince on a dating site before their conversations shifted to WhatsApp, where he flooded her with affectionate messages.
“He kept on messaging me even when I was sleeping,” the victim told AFP. “It felt like there was a love spell that connected our minds.”
The deception reportedly became even more convincing during video calls.
In one recording viewed by AFP, an image appeared on screen that looked like the real prince. His lips moved in sync with his words, though the voice did not match the real Sheikh Hamdan’s.
“Hello, beloved,” the caller said. “I really appreciate your love and support.”
Maria said she initially had no reason to suspect she was being conned.
By the time doubts surfaced, she had already lost 100,000 Philippine pesos — or about $1,625 — after the scammer persuaded her to pay for what he claimed were a marriage certificate and a “royal membership card” that would supposedly help her secure a job in Dubai. The amount came to a year’s worth of Maria’s savings.
The fraudster later asked for another 60,000 pesos, or about $974, to reserve a hotel room where they would finally meet.
That request prompted Maria to look more closely at the Facebook account connected to the supposed prince charming.
She discovered the account, which has since been removed, was based in Nigeria. She immediately cut off contact.
“Go to hell, scammer,” she wrote in her final message.
“Many people told me it’s good I didn’t go crazy after this experience,” Maria told AFP.
Researchers cited by the wire service traced some of the schemes to criminal syndicates operating in Nigeria, where fraudsters have increasingly embraced artificial intelligence to make online impersonation scams more convincing.
The cons are part of a broader wave of “fake Dubai prince” frauds targeting people seeking romance online.
Scammers exploit Sheikh Hamdan’s enormous social media following — more than 17 million Instagram followers — while ripping off his image, identity and even authentic poems to convince victims they are communicating with the real royal.
AFP identified multiple Facebook groups pretending to represent the prince, some of which have drawn thousands of followers.
The pages encouraged users to continue conversations through WhatsApp or Telegram and featured manipulated but highly realistic images.
One showed the prince kneeling with a ring, while another depicted him holding a red rose alongside the caption: “Sweetheart can I get a ‘love you’ on WhatsApp?”
Although some commenters warned that the accounts were fraudulent, many others responded with hearts and kiss-blowing emojis.
Dubai authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.
Todd Spodek, a New York-based federal criminal defense attorney who represents clients in fraud cases, said romance scams often rely on building victims’ trust over an extended period before any money changes hands.
“They’re building these long-term relationships with vulnerable people, building trust, building a rapport,” Spodek told The Post. “And then ultimately slowly putting them in a position to freely give money until they could take full advantage of them.”
Spodek said scammers use what is known as “social engineering” to prey on people experiencing vulnerable moments in their lives.
“What they’re doing is they’re weaponizing specific life situations,” he told The Post, citing people coping with divorce, the death of a spouse or other major life changes.
He said awareness remains the best defense against increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes.
“The first step is education,” Spodek told The Post.
The expert urged people to be especially wary when an online relationship turns into requests for money or expensive gifts.
“Once it gets to the point where someone’s asking you if you can send money or gift cards or iPhones or do anything like that, it should trigger a red flag,” he told The Post.
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