Emergence of AI-Driven Romance Scams and Crypto Phishing Threats
New research has revealed that romance scams are increasingly being automated through the use of large language models (LLMs), allowing cybercriminals to scale their operations and make scam interactions more convincing. These scams typically follow a three-stage process: initial contact, relationship building, and financial extraction, with LLMs now handling much of the repetitive conversation and persona management. Insiders from scam operations report daily use of AI tools to draft and translate messages, making it easier to maintain multiple simultaneous conversations and deceive victims into fraudulent cryptocurrency investments.
In parallel, the threat landscape for cryptocurrency users has intensified, with phishing attacks targeting digital wallets and decentralized applications (dApps) on the rise. According to a 2025 Kaspersky report, crypto-related phishing detections surged by over 80% compared to 2023, with social engineering scams accounting for the largest share of incidents. Attackers employ tactics such as fake wallet sites, approval phishing, and payload-based transaction phishing, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. These developments underscore the growing sophistication and automation of social engineering attacks in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, driven by advances in AI and the expanding use of digital assets.
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