Woman thought she hit it off with military colonel on Tinder – fact got here out £20k later

Artificial conmen are tricking people out of their savings, according to fraud experts, as romance scammers create fake images and voices to lure their victim.

‘Mike Murdy’ is one such ‘AI conmen’ – described as an US army colonel looking for love – as financial authorities warn of a new generation of internet scams.

The fake colonel’s profile is on dating app Tinder. He says he is aged 61, from Nashville, and about to retire. He wants to relocate to Cuba and settle down for a new life with his partner.

Mary, a carer, had been single for more than 20 years and came across ‘Mike Murdy’ on the dating app Tinder. “He said he was an army colonel stationed in the UK,” Mary told The Mirror. “He sent me a video, dressed in his uniform. He looked quite handsome.”

In October they started messaging. He sent her a photograph he claimed was of him and his late wife, who died of cancer five years ago, and claimed he had no children or family.

Mary gave him her address. A few days later a box arrived, containing trinkets and keepsakes. A card sent to her read: “You’re the one I want to be with, now and forever.”

‘Mike Murdy’ lured Mary’s help and claimed he had a life insurance policy from his wife and needed help to cash in. Scammers sent Mary videos claiming he was going to send her a military briefcase containing cash worth £607,000.

Some fees, however, were needed to be put in place before she could receive it. “Please trust me on this. Let’s make this happen so we can enjoy our retirement together,” he told her.

To gain access, Mary had to obtain a six-digit access code – generated upon receipt of a payment of £10,000. ‘Mike Murdy’ assured her that this one last payment would unlock the briefcase.

Clips between ‘Mike Murdy’ and Mary showed Murdy unhappy that Mary “seemed more focused on money than on us”. She sent a final £10,000 payment on October 31 but a code to unlock the briefcase never arrived.

Mary broke into the briefcase to find only sheets of paper.

Mary said: “It’s really scary to think the fraudsters have just created these videos. I’ve never been conned like this in my life. I was saving up that money to redecorate my house. Now I don’t feel safe.”

Under Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) rules, banks are required to reimburse victims of “authorised push payment” fraud, where people are duped into transferring money to criminals.

Martin Richardson, a senior partner at National Fraud Helpline, said: “This was an incredibly unusual fraud in which the scammer used every possible method to convince the victim that he was genuine. Not only did the fraudster create AI videos but he also sent physical items such as the briefcase, and trinkets, keepsakes and an ornament.

“Combining AI and … sending items in the post shows a level of sophistication from a very determined scammer.”

A Halifax spokesman said: “Helping to protect customers from fraud is our priority and we have a great deal of sympathy for the victim of this crime. We are reviewing the claim in line with the PSR’s rules on reimbursement and will confirm the outcome to our customer early next week.”

It is hoped the measures will help to improve fraud prevention and increase focus on customer protection. Last year £459.7 million was lost to these types of scams, according to the PSR. Halifax is reviewing Mary’s claim.

National Fraud Helpline helps fraud victims recover money on a no win, no fee basis, and is campaigning for better scam prevention. It has joined forces with leading AI firm Time Machine Capital Squared to create anti-fraud technology innovation.

Simon White, Time Machine’s managing partner, said: “We are witnessing the beginning of an arms race to create technology that can help AI being adopted by fraudsters.”

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