An 80-year-old woman sent romance scammers she met on Facebook money including £10,000 hidden in a book after they used AI to alter their appearance in photos and video calls and later told her of a kidnapping with a ransom demand; the BBC reported (29 September 2026) that she sent £140,000 in total
The BBC (29 September 2026) reports, from an interview with her daughter for Radio 4's Scam Secrets, that an 80-year-old woman fell for a man she met on Facebook. The scammers used AI to change their appearance in photos and video calls. She posted £10,000 in cash hidden in a hollowed-out book to a Shanghai hospital where he supposedly awaited an operation; later, in the BBC's words, a new man came on the scene who had been kidnapped and would be killed if she did not pay a ransom. In total, the BBC says, she sent £140,000 to the scammers; her bank has returned £45,000. Her daughter spotted the deepfake on a video call, but the woman did not believe her and said her daughter made her feel disgusted and ashamed. The daughter, who holds a lasting power of attorney, set up safeguards with the bank, changed her mother's number three times (each new number reached the scammers) and eventually replaced her smartphone. The BBC does not say whether a ransom was paid.
- AI system
- Unidentified image and video tool
- Occurred
- Event date unknown
- Reported
- 29 September 2026
- Event location
- Unknown
- What the AI did
- Communicated with the person
- Reported harm
- Financial LossRelationship Disruption
- Whose AI use
- Someone else’s AI use
- Setting
- Relationships · Finance
- Evidence
- AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source
- 3 claims: 3 reported. 5 open questions
- People reported harmed
- 1 person
AI system as recorded: AI used by romance scammers to change their appearance in photos and video calls (BBC); no tool is named
What Happened
BBC News (29 September 2026) reports an interview with a woman, identified by her first name, for BBC Radio 4's Scam Secrets about her 80-year-old mother. The mother met her scammers on Facebook, where they used artificial intelligence to change their appearance in photos and video calls. Believing she was in love with a man who would join her once he had recovered, she hollowed out a book, put £10,000 in cash inside and posted it to a Shanghai hospital where he supposedly awaited a life-saving operation. The demands continued. Then, the BBC says, a new man came on the scene: he had been kidnapped and would be killed if she did not pay the ransom. The BBC does not say whether she paid it. In total, the BBC says, she sent £140,000 to romance scammers.
The daughter first realised something was wrong when her mother accidentally sent her messages intended for the criminals, and noticed her taking many phone and video calls she would not explain. Allowed to join a video call, the daughter spotted the deepfake because the image was fuzzy and the voice out of sync with the man's movements, but her mother did not believe her and said her daughter made her feel disgusted and ashamed. Holding a lasting power of attorney, the daughter set up safeguards with her mother's bank, which has returned £45,000. She changed her mother's phone number three times, but her mother gave each new number to the scammers, and she eventually replaced her mother's smartphone with one that could only make calls and send texts.
Reported harm
According to her daughter's account to the BBC, an 80-year-old woman sent romance scammers who used AI to alter their appearance money including £10,000 (£140,000 in total according to the BBC; £45,000 returned by her bank) and turned against her daughter's attempts to intervene.
Outcome
UnknownReported by BBC News on 29 September 2026 from an interview for BBC Radio 4's Scam Secrets. Her bank has returned £45,000. No police action is reported.
What remains unknown
- When the scam took place and over how long.
- Where the woman lives.
- How the £140,000 was paid, and whether a ransom was paid and how much.
- Which AI tool was used, and whether voice was also generated.
- Whether police were informed.
What the evidence supports
AI involvement: reported. The BBC reports that the scammers she met on Facebook used artificial intelligence to change their appearance in photos and video calls, and that her daughter, on a video call with the scammer, spotted the deepfake because the image was fuzzy and the voice out of sync with his movements. No tool is named.
3 claims: 3 reported. What the statuses mean
Reported An 80-year-old woman who believed she was in a relationship with a man she met on Facebook sent scammers £10,000 in cash hidden in a hollowed-out book, addressed to a Shanghai hospital where he supposedly awaited an operation; later 'a new man came on the scene' with a kidnap story and a ransom demand under threat of death; the BBC says she sent £140,000 in total, and her bank has returned £45,000.
Causal attribution. Her daughter's account to the BBC; the BBC body does not itemise the payments or say whether a ransom was paid.
- bbc.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'In total she sent £140,000 to romance scammers.'; 'hollowed out a book and put £10,000 cash inside. She then posted it to a Shanghai Hospital where he awaited a life-saving operation.'; 'Then a new man came on the scene - he'd been kidnapped and if she didn't pay the ransom he would be killed.'; 'has returned £45,000 to her account.'
Reported The scammers used AI to change their appearance in photos and video calls; her daughter spotted the deepfake on a video call because the image was fuzzy and the voice out of sync.
Causal attribution. The BBC's account, based on the daughter's interview.
- bbc.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'met her scammers on Facebook where they used artificial intelligence (AI) to change their appearance in photos and video calls - a type of deception known as deepfake.'; 'She says she quickly spotted the deepfake as the image was "fuzzy" and his voice out of sync with his movements.'
Reported She did not believe her daughter and said her daughter made her feel disgusted and ashamed; her daughter, who holds a lasting power of attorney, set up safeguards on her accounts, changed her phone number three times (each new number was given to the scammers) and eventually replaced her smartphone with one that could only make calls and send texts.
Causal attribution. The daughter's account to the BBC.
- bbc.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'tried to convince her mum the man she was speaking to was not who he said he was but she did not believe her.'; 'She was saying I made her feel disgusted and ashamed,'; 'She had a lasting power of attorney, meaning she could act on behalf of her mum and set up safeguards for her accounts.'; 'changed her mum's phone number three times, she continued to give the new one to the scammers.'; 'eventually replaced her mum's smartphone with one that could only do calls and texts.'
Sources
1 source inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.
- BBC News, 29 September 2026: 'Mum sent them £140,000': How to spot the signs a loved one is being scammed(opens in new tab)
s1 · bbc.com · News report · English · Inspected · 29 September 2026 · Primary
How the sources were read, and where the events happened
Read on 2026-10-01 from the live BBC News page (published 29 September 2026 23:09 UTC); based on an interview with her daughter for BBC Radio 4's Scam Secrets. Brit Brief and other rewrites relay this report. Applies to s1.
Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Unknown.
The BBC report (BBC Radio 4's Scam Secrets) does not state where the woman lives; it mentions UK fraud figures and a lasting power of attorney in general terms. Country left unknown.
Reviewed for publication 2026-10-01: Published as a core case (communicated_with): the BBC reports, from her daughter's interview, that an 80-year-old woman was drawn into a Facebook romance scam in which the scammers used AI to alter their appearance in photos and video calls, and sent them money including £10,000 in a book, £140,000 in total according to the BBC; £45,000 has been returned. The scammers also told her of a kidnapping and demanded a ransom. Neither the woman nor her daughter is identified beyond the daughter's first name in the source.
People described
An 80-year-old woman who met the scammers on Facebook (not named)
People reported harmed in this case
1 person
0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed
One person, the 80-year-old woman who sent the money (BBC). Her daughter's distress is reported but she is not counted. Exact 1.
Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.
Cite this case
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2026). An 80-year-old woman sent romance scammers she met on Facebook money including £10,000 hidden in a book after they used AI to alter their appearance in photos and video calls and later told her of a kidnapping with a ransom demand; the BBC reported (29 September 2026) that she sent £140,000 in total. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-80-year-old-woman-facebook-deepfake-romance-scam-140000-kidnap-ransom-story
BibTeX
@misc{2026_80_year_old_woman_facebook_deepfake_romance_scam_140000_kidnap_ransom_story,
title = {An 80-year-old woman sent romance scammers she met on Facebook money including £10,000 hidden in a book after they used AI to alter their appearance in photos and video calls and later told her of a kidnapping with a ransom demand; the BBC reported (29 September 2026) that she sent £140,000 in total},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AI incidents},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-80-year-old-woman-facebook-deepfake-romance-scam-140000-kidnap-ransom-story}
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