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Dating apps are supposed to help you find a match, but a newly uncovered network of apps has been setting up users with machines and charging them virtual coins to keep the conversation going.
In a report released earlier this month, Anthropic says it identified more than 20 apps that advertised authentic romantic connections, while filling feeds with more than 4,700 AI-generated personas. About three-quarters of these profiles were powered by Claude, the company’s own AI. The rest belonged to gig workers who used AI responses and added a human touch via video calls or social media messaging to keep users from getting suspicious.
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The apps also fabricated likes, profile visits and prerecorded video, while tracking which users had started to suspect they were talking to bots.
Many of the apps, including Dora, Romi, Luma and Jovia, had been removed from the app stores before Anthropic published its report, according to an investigation from the Verge with others like Kira being taken down since then.
Romance scams that rely on fake profiles are nothing new, and they could be quite costly for victims even before widespread access to AI made creating impersonations a breeze. Just this week, Fox News reported that a fraudster posing as a man named Brian Haugen established a connection with a woman on LinkedIn, eventually convincing her to send him almost $1 million over the course of two years.
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Experts warn generative AI could make romance scams even more prevalent. Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions Government Group, which helps agencies detect and prevent online fraud, says the use of AI agents to develop and cultivate relationships wasn’t that common just a year ago. But now, “the ability to train agents and do it at scale is going to fundamentally change the fraud landscape.”
Current GenAI models can target thousands of people at a time with increasingly believable personas due to their automation and ability to gather large amounts of personal information. Then, they rely on the same weakness exploited in traditional romance scams: Once someone believes a relationship is genuine, spending money to preserve it can feel like a reasonable thing to do.
How to protect yourself from romance scams
Romance scams can begin on dating apps, social media or even through unexpected text messages. Be suspicious when a new online connection becomes intensely romantic very quickly or repeatedly avoids in person.
Talcove also suggests you call it quits immediately when an online romantic interest asks for money. If you feel the need to continue, you can propose something simple to verify their identity, like meeting for coffee.
Scammers often claim to work or live overseas, then introduce an emergency that requires financial help. “A popular romance scam right now is pretending that you’re military deployed overseas,” says Talcove. But they’re concocted stories. “No one should ever believe that.”
Consider doing a reverse-image search of pictures the person shared to see if they appear to be stolen. You may find the images attached to another person’s profile — a strong, though not definitive, sign of impersonation.
But a clean search result is no guarantee: AI-generated images may not appear anywhere else online. Instead, look for an established online history, including older posts and details that match what the person has already told you. None of this is foolproof, so discuss the relationship with someone you trust as well.
Don’t assume mutual connections or a video call proves that someone is real, either. Friends or acquaintances are easy to fake, especially if they have public accounts that don’t require them to actively accept requests, while deepfake technology can make video calls less reliable.
When it comes to the apps, keep in mind that the fraudulent ones reportedly evaded Apple and Google’s review for some time. While the problematic ones have been taken down in this case, more are sure to pop up. Research unfamiliar dating apps and their developers before paying for a subscription or buying their virtual currency.
Above all, never send money, cryptocurrency, gift cards or financial information to someone you have met only online. Nearly 60% of people who reported losing money to a romance scam in 2025 said it began on social media, according to the Federal Trade Commission. AI may make the approach faster and more convincing, but an online love interest asking for money remains the clearest warning sign of a potential scam.
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