Hong Kong police have intercepted over HK$34 million (US$3.37 million) in scam proceeds as part of an elaborate operation targeting victims through the use of artificial intelligence.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post on Saturday, the investigation also shed light on some of the novel strategies employed by local romance scam operators. 

Some revolved around pretending to be wealthy single women, with conversational prompts including learning Japanese, playing golf, and tasting red wine worth more than HK$100,000 ($12,850) a bottle, per the report.

Strategies such as those were recorded in notebooks seized by local law enforcement when officers arrested 31 people. 

The arrests were part of a concerted action against a crime syndicate that used AI to generate credible images of attractive women to lure victims into romance and investment scams.

Byron Boston, a former Dallas police officer and CEO of Crypto Track, told Decrypt that “the integration of deepfake technology and social engineering scams presents significant challenges for cryptocurrency investigators and law enforcement.” 

He explained that AI-generated images make criminals more convincing and allow them...