Singles are using AI to pressure naive victims to send them nudes: ‘If something doesn’t feel right, speak up’

Students are being warned: Swipe correct and you mightiness get blackmailed.

Creeps posing arsenic flirty singles connected making love apps are duping victims — particularly students — into sending X-rated pics, only to move astir and request cash, opportunity UK fraud experts.

As reported by BBC, Annya Burksys, caput of fraud astatine Nationwide, Britain’s biggest building society, called nan AI-aided scams “efficient and unrelenting.” 

She warned that “sextortion” schemes person go “commonplace” among students.

Sextortion, nan shady tactic, uses bots aliases clone profiles to woo victims into sharing friendly images — and past threatens to leak them unless a ransom is paid.

Tracking these lowlifes isn’t easy — astir cases vanish without a trace aliases ne'er get reported astatine all.

Still, a Nationwide study recovered 28% of students person already been duped, and half are sweating they’ll beryllium next.

As per nan BBC, Jim Winters, economical crime caput astatine Nationwide, warned Gen Z students to support their apparel — and their camera rolls — connected lock, particularly erstwhile chatting up strangers online.

“Blackmail is 1 of nan hardest things to look and it’s happening much often. It’s not easy but if thing doesn’t consciousness right, speak up,” he warned. 

Winters acknowledged it mightiness beryllium tempting to deed nonstop successful nan power of nan infinitesimal — but erstwhile that pic is retired there, he warned, you’ve mislaid power for good.

Winters laid retired immoderate street-smart tips for spotting a integer con: Watch for wonky phrases that don’t lucifer what you’ve said — classical bot behavior. 

You tin besides tally floor plan pics done a reverse image hunt to sniff retired banal photograph imposters. 

And if thing feels off, don’t spell it unsocial aliases “suffer successful silence,” he said — show nan messages to a friend earlier things spiral. 

Above all, if you’re being blackmailed, he advises not to enactment quiet — but to study it and get help.

As The Post reported past month, 4 West African creeps were busted successful a vile “sextortion” scheme that led to a California teen’s tragic death, nan DOJ said.

17-year-old Ryan Last, a precocious schoolhouse senior, took his ain life successful 2022 — conscionable hours aft sending nudes to a scammer posing arsenic a flirty 20-something female who past threatened to expose him if he didn’t cough up nan cash.

Last’s heartbreaking decease lit nan fuse connected a world manhunt — unraveling a twisted sextortion ringing that preyed connected “thousands of victims,” including kids, crossed nan US, Canada, nan UK, France, Spain and Italy, feds said.

So earlier you bare each for that too-good-to-be-true hottie online — inquire yourself: is it love, aliases conscionable a lurid scam pinch a sinister script?