The suspect, identified as Yu Xiuzhen, created a fake identity on social media to con people. A 65-year-old woman in China used artificial intelligence (AI) to trick a businessman out of 170,000 yuan (about $25,000) by pretending she was a young, glamorous doctor, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, adding that she was actually a cleaner at the hospital. Using digital face-swapping software, she posed as a 29-year-old physician working at a top Shanghai hospital.
Yu convinced him that her position at the hospital gave her control over major construction contracts. Hoping to secure some deals, Liu began pursuing a romantic relationship with her online. Whenever Liu asked to meet in person or do video calls, Yu always made up excuses to say no. She eventually adopted a second fake persona-her own strict mother- claiming her parent strongly disapproved of the relationship.
She built up a large following over five years, posting roughly 7,000 videos and photos generated with AI. The report mentioned that she had around 10,000 followers. A local property contractor named Liu Hui, a resident of Shanghai, came across her profile in 2021.
But when he didn’t get any business contracts, he finally went to the police. Investigators quickly tracked down the real woman behind the account. She even had a previous conviction for fraud. Police found that her actual mother had passed away long ago, and Yu had spent the stolen money on cosmetic surgery, expensive skincare, and new clothes. When officers reviewed Yu’s videos, they noticed tiny digital disclaimers that read, “This work contains AI-generated content.
Because he wasn’t familiar with modern AI tools, when police showed it to Liu, he said he had missed the warning text. Roleplaying as the mother, Yu told Liu he needed to pay a heavy bride price of 300,000 yuan ($45,000) and buy a local apartment before he could meet her daughter. He believed her and ended up transferring 170,000 yuan over five months. Rather than being a wealthy young doctor, Yu was a 65-year-old cleaner.
