AI ‘Girlfriend’ Scam Swindles Victims Out of 1.8 Million Yuan Across ChinaAI
“女友”诈骗全国多地受害者被骗180万元
by Wang Xiang 王翔
[News] [新闻]
Share Article: 分享文章：
A man working in Shanghai transferred more than 180,000 yuan (US$26,985) to an online girlfriend he hoped to marry, only to discover that her identity was a fiction built by a fraud ring using artificial intelligence, CCTV News reported on November 2.据央视新闻11月2日报道，一名在上海工作的男子向他希望结婚的网络女友转移了18万多元人民币（26985美元），却发现她的身份是一个利用人工智能的欺诈团伙制造的虚构。
The man, identified by his surname Liu, was among 15 victims across China who lost more than 1.8 million yuan to the group, the report said. Those involved received prison terms of up to 11 years and fines.报道称，这名姓刘的男子是中国15名受害者之一，他们给该组织损失了超过180万元。涉案人员被判处最高11年的有期徒刑和罚款。
Behind the supposed girlfriend were people following a carefully staged script, using AI-generated or altered images to make the relationship appear real.在这位所谓的女友身后，是一群按照精心编排的剧本行事的人，他们利用人工智能生成或修改的图片，让这段关系看起来真实可信。
Caption: An image used to portray the fictitious online girlfriend in the case, as shown in the news report.说明：新闻报道中展示的、用于塑造案件中虚构网络女友形象的图片。
Liu first encountered a woman calling herself Tingting on a short-video platform. Her profile said she was looking for a partner with shared values and wanted to marry. After they connected on WeChat, she told him she was an orphan raised by an aunt and sent him regular messages of concern and affection.刘最初在一个短视频平台上认识了一位自称婷婷的女子。她的个人资料显示，她想找一位价值观契合的伴侣，并且希望结婚。两人在微信上取得联系后，她告诉刘自己是由姑姑抚养长大的孤儿，还给他发去了日常的关心与温情消息。
About a month later, she claimed the aunt had a brain tumor and urgently needed money for treatment. A purported medical diagnosis and a photograph of an identity card helped persuade Liu to transfer 40,000 yuan that day.大约一个月后，她声称这位阿姨患上了脑瘤，急需治疗费用。一份伪造的诊断证明和一张身份证照片说服了刘某当天转账4万元。
Further requests followed as the aunt’s condition supposedly worsened. Over the next two weeks, his total payments rose to more than 180,000 yuan.随着姑姑的病情据称恶化，后续的付款请求接踵而至。在接下来的两周里，他的总付款金额超过了18万元。
Lu Chao, an assistant prosecutor at the Minhang District People’s Procuratorate in Shanghai, told CCTV that Liu even took out small loans. He grew suspicious when he could no longer afford to pay and asked which hospital was treating the aunt. The fraudsters supplied an address but would not make a live video call. Liu then went to police.上海闵行区人民检察院助理检察官卢超告诉央视，刘某甚至还借了小额贷款。当他再也无力偿还，并询问是哪家医院在为那位阿姨治疗时，他开始起疑。骗子提供了一个地址，但拒绝进行实时视频通话。随后刘某报了警。
Investigators in Minhang traced the operation and arrested people in Guangdong, Shandong, Guizhou and other locations, CCTV reported.据央视报道，闵行区的调查人员追踪了该团伙的运作，并在广东、山东、贵州等地抓获了相关人员。
Caption: A scene shown in CCTV’s coverage of the police operation against the fraud ring.说明：央视报道警方打击该诈骗团伙行动中播出的一个场景。
The group’s chat operators worked from a seven-day script, sending AI-altered photographs of everyday activities and meals. Instructions included complaining about overtime on the second day and typing casual messages themselves rather than simply copying prepared lines on the third.该团队的聊天客服人员按照一份为期七天的脚本开展工作，发送经过人工智能修改的日常活动和用餐照片。指令要求他们在第二天抱怨加班，第三天则自行发送随意的消息，而非单纯复制预设话术。
An early request for a few hundred yuan served as a test. The fictitious girlfriend would say she was quitting her job after harassment by her boss and opening a shop, then ask the man to pay for a congratulatory flower basket.一笔几百元的早期请求成了试探。虚构的女友会说自己因老板骚扰而辞职，打算开一家店，然后让男方花钱买一个祝贺用的花篮。
Prosecutor Yu Qianqian told CCTV that those willing to pay received further attention. Those who refused to buy flowers or small gifts were marked in the operators’ contacts and dropped.检察官于倩倩告诉央视新闻，那些愿意花钱的人会得到更多关注。而那些拒绝购买鲜花或小礼物的人，则会被运营商在联系人名单中标记并被剔除。
Potential targets were passed to the organizer or a core chat operator. The requests then escalated to invented family medical emergencies, backed by forged identity documents, medical records and hospital-bed photographs.潜在目标被传递给组织者或核心聊天操作员。随后，这些请求升级为编造的家庭医疗紧急情况，背后还有伪造的身份证件、医疗记录以及医院床位照片作为支撑。
The demands continued with claims that special medicines were needed, until victims could pay no more. The largest individual loss in the case exceeded 380,000 yuan, CCTV reported.索赔方还不断声称需要特效药，直到受害者再也无力支付。据央视报道，此案中个人最大损失超过38万元。
Editor: Zhu Ying 编辑：朱颖
