AI TruthTeller

10/20/2026

Another romance scam... eight months and 10,000+ messages... and common tricks of the trade. He's military and deployed overseas... needs to pay nanny for his child...manipulates with guilt... uses a deepfake video... and doesn't show up for in person meet. The patterns are common and the results are tragic. The lady lost $90,000 dollars. The scammers take their time, use the latest tech and manipulate on emotions. You gotta know how to say no and walk away.

10/15/2026

Scammers hope your are distracted, naive, unaware, uninformed and a host of other adjectives. Here is an example of one attempt:

"I’m reaching out on behalf of Vantage Drilling International Company, as we’re exploring new manufacturing partnerships. Based on your capabilities, I believe there may be an opportunity to work together. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share a brief company presentation."

The response email is then written as [email protected]

One letter off, that's it. Another variation is to transpose two letters, hoping you won't notice - [email protected] Not only is AI used to blast messages to hundreds or thousands of companies, but it is combined with tactics to make you miss the obvious.

10/14/2026

This new documentary will be worth watching – Oct 17th. Romance scams are a billion dollar industry and growing. As many now know, the scammers take their time, hone their skills and play on your vulnerabilities. Awareness of the risk is one of the earliest steps in protecting yourself. Although I disagree with the final thought that government of big tech companies should protect us from romance scams, they do have a part to play. Make no mistake, romance scams are increasing in sophistry with the integration of AI, synthetic media and humans. Tech tools like AI TruthTeller can help, but romance is a very personal experience. Individual decisions magnified by discernment will be the battleground where you avoid the traps and harm of romance scams. Know when to say no and walk away.

Mariana van Zeller goes undercover in National Geographic's investigative documentary "Super Scam Me."

10/09/2026

Playing with our latest update to AI TruthTeller this afternoon. One of our users felt the need to load lots of p**n via text so we are now rejecting that before the text is analyzed and drops into our model. We've been rejecting p**n images for quite awhile so that's not new. We've also added a classifier across thirteen or so categories. These include such things as illegal activities, hate speech, violence and so forth. None of these categories are blocked or rejected - simply flagging them for review and learning. We want to help users stay safe and this is an area where we can likely help.

We've also added an automatic image search in the Facebook Scam Scan. This will help users know if the profile their interacting with is a dupe and a fake, showing an image that has been used in numerous other places around the web. It's not a hard proof point but rather a signal that should be considered for your own best judgement. Gathering and presenting information that helps you make better decisions.

10/08/2026

Google SynthID - maybe you've head of it? Free AI detection from Google. The stories are true and the tech is available. It works on AI generated by Google using their watermark technology A step in the right direction, but also insufficient to contain the bad actors. We'll take a closer look and let you know how, if or when we will incorporate this new capability into AI TruthTeller.

SynthID is a tool to watermark and identify AI-generated content, helping to foster transparency and trust in generative AI.

09/28/2026

Romance scams have caught the attention of Congress. This will be worth tracking to see how it shapes up. If you've met someone on a dating app and then move the conversation off of the app and that persons account gets closed as fraudulent, the data app becomes obligated to send you an alert, letting you know the account was closed. Not a bad idea... we'll see how it plays out in the court system and how the scammers adapt (assuming it makes it into law)

Summary of H.R.2481 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Romance Scam Prevention Act

09/25/2026

So many scammers and so much to learn... Too many of the B2B scammers are predictable. They use templated emails, offer to send lots of money and press for a quick signature. Urgency shows up when targeting individuals as well. Urgency and asking repetitively for personal details. As an old friend used to say, "buyer beware." Although I must say, we are seeing new approaches in behaviour and tactics with the advent of agentic AI.

09/23/2026

If you're paying to chat you may be chatting with a bot pretending to be a human. I suppose it could simply be viewed as entertainment, but if you're looking for real connection with real people, look closely before you believe what is in front of you.

Image credit: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images. Story by Yael Grauer.

Thousands of people have been catfished by scammers supercharged with AI.

09/22/2026

You've heard the old adage, "liars figure and figures lie". This takes on new meaning in the workplace where employees now use AI to fabricate expenses. And on the flip side employers use AI to catch them, identifying behavioral and numeric patterns that don't fit the narrative. Honesty is a virtue and AI will certainly help liars figure if they choose to go down that path. Unfortunately this is another example of AI versus AI to figure out what is real and what is fake.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisoncoleman/2026/09/20/ai-is-boosting-workplace-fraud-and-transforming-how-employers-detect-it/

09/18/2026

Well, well, well... Florida Board of Education takes some prudent steps as it relates to artificial intelligence. One quote from the story that sums it up nicely: It [AI] does not belong in a classroom when it writes the essay, scores the child in secret, offers itself as a companion, or coopts the intellectual virtue of critical thinking. We are preparing Floridians for an AI economy. We are not raising a generation that outsources judgment or rationality.” Read the whole story. It's worth two minutes of your time.

Florida Sets National Standard for Responsible AI in Classrooms—From VPK Through College