43-year-old man from Southampton defrauded of £200 via deepfake Jennifer Aniston romance scam using AI-generated videos and fake ID

Summary

A 43-year-old man from Southampton was deceived by a deepfake romance scam involving an AI-generated impersonation of Jennifer Aniston. The scammer sent him videos and messages that appeared to be from Aniston, including emotional content and a fake California driver’s license with her name and photo. The fraudster convinced the victim to send £200 in Apple gift cards, claiming they were for an “Apple subscription.” The scam was created using publicly available photos, voice samples, and free AI tools. The scammer also manipulated the victim by warning him not to trust other accounts and to delete previous messages. This incident is part of a growing trend of romance scams using deepfake technology to impersonate celebrities.