Finding love online is already expensive enough without discovering that the person on the other end might be a chatbot. A network of fraudulent dating apps reportedly used AI-generated matches to convince people they were talking to real women, then charged them to keep the conversations going.
Anthropic’s investigation uncovered more than 4,700 fabricated AI personas interacting with at least 25,000 people over two weeks in April 2026. The network spanned more than 20 dating apps.
How did the AI dating scam work
The apps presented themselves as ordinary dating platforms. But roughly 75% of the matches in the operation were AI-generated personas powered by Anthropic’s Claude. Users weren’t told they were talking to machines.
Matching and messaging consumed a limited quota that users could replenish by purchasing virtual coins. Every exchange offered another opportunity to collect money.
Real people helped sell the illusion. Paid workers appeared in video calls and handled social media interactions, while another AI model generated suggested responses for them. Even facial verification systems like Tinder’s Face Check wouldn’t establish who was actually writing the messages.
Claude’s instructions told the personas to conceal their identities and make excuses when asked to join video calls. The apps could also fabricate likes and profile visitors to encourage further interaction.
How big was the AI catfishing operation
The fabricated personas exchanged roughly 2.36 million messages over those two weeks. Other AI-powered scam operations have similarly used automation to expand their reach.
An engineering team maintained the infrastructure, using multiple AI models for tasks including generating profile images.
Security researcher Matthew Gore-Kormanik discovered that several supposedly separate apps shared code and backend infrastructure, as detailed in The Verge’s investigation.
How can people spot the warning signs
Being listed on Google Play or Apple’s App Store doesn’t guarantee genuine matches. Several apps remained available for months after Anthropic discovered the network.
Repeated excuses for avoiding video calls deserve scrutiny, particularly when a match encourages more spending. Even seeing someone on camera doesn’t prove that they’re writing the messages. Our guide to spotting AI romance scams covers additional warning signs.
Charging for conversations isn’t inherently fraudulent. Here, people paid to interact with AI personas presented as genuine romantic prospects. If an app conceals who users are talking to, stop spending money and report it to the app store.