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Data from The GDELT Project · Reviewed and interpreted by RSRC

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Reported case

Romance scam: I was duped out of £17k by deepfake videos

www.bbc.comEnglishObserved 2024-12-20
Included for relevance; source claims are not independently verified. This record is based on saved titles and descriptions unless a separate deeper-reading assessment is explicitly shown. Observation dates are not incident dates. An arrest or charge is not a conviction.

Story groups for this report

Contextual research groupings, not verified case membership.

How to read this record

Own NikkiMacLeod thoughtrealfemale relationship, sent17kGBP anddeepfakevideos. Frouteunspecified; namedpersonnotoperator, AInotautomaticformalIDforgery orclinicaldistress.

Evidence basis: saved title description

Places in the available evidence

No geographic role could be established from the available text.

Unlisted locations remain unknown. Nationality, language and web address alone do not establish where a scam happened.

Reported developments

These attributed statements apply to their specified subjects and scope. They do not establish guilt, a whole-article denial, or an unstated outcome.

development assertions

role
reported_development
basis
explicit
field
development
scope
article
value
reported_loss
reason
Coarse article-level tag from contextual coding. Consult the coding record for stage, actor, allegation and mixed-fraud scope. Source claims are neither independently verified nor additive.
Source statement flagsNo listed value
Current annotation provenance

The base reviewed revision is preserved. Current source bindings and approved qualifications are attached for this release.

base version key
32fb28b4fe78ab6a294a715a7aced9a6e0a75b33db1d1bffc7352c7bab4b084c
current source binding
input hash
f63e2db321d1f9891f7ba0f560cf761f59bdb0bf6a2ac02d4a860016a46c1589
decision id
60a2fd914303fd47e00fd3820fca3190fa0717baf80c23125983a09a96ad8f6a
document id
1a063474635790b5385b420682e586a49fcfe3a3a28bf7bb7a653e605091b9bb
hash domain
sha256-json-sortkeys-utf8-compact-v1
enrichment id
ff20aac0eb4ea78b061c6cf42e935837282f329e3e8079a2425a85a37c3555b5
finding evidence sha256
5e7f254f571b80306812f90b6e3c3e875754186e54b4f96917aba15c4088734b
enrichment payload sha256
dc3415afe64c306bb82614e6d612208a5b24d7e59cb6d29af40dcc02ac83c2b7
approved delta ids
No listed value
provenance
Item 1
json pointer
/source_map/records/1a063474635790b5385b420682e586a49fcfe3a3a28bf7bb7a653e605091b9bb/annotation_binding
artifact sha256
6939f2def082e3f6a3b5e12b6ad0b2345e9d52d21c842659b684b87e8b0e6510
annotation key
b7937240cdddca913cf5636d7eb733ff262af1e4ed48cdd0cf1bb786490b1826

Themes reported in the text

These labels describe the available reporting. “Not reported” does not mean a harm did not happen. A theme's stage applies to that statement, not every claim in the article.

Financial and property harm

unspecifiedreported occurrenceStage: completed
Interpretation details
Scope
single case
Person or institution described
targeted person
Link to romance fraud
explicit
Causal claim
not established

Relationship-based deception

fabricated relationshipreported occurrenceStage: completed
Interpretation details
Scope
single case
Person or institution described
alleged offender
Link to romance fraud
explicit
Causal claim
not established

Technical facilitation

ai synthetic mediareported occurrenceStage: completed
Interpretation details
Scope
single case
Person or institution described
alleged offender
Link to romance fraud
explicit
Causal claim
not established
All 24 assessed themes
ThemeAssessment
Blame, stigma and responsibility framingnot reported in available text
Homicide and lethal violencenot reported in available text
Disruption of daily lifenot reported in available text
Financial and property harmreported in available text
Suicide and self-harmnot reported in available text
Family and social harmnot reported in available text
Protection or recovery of assetsnot reported in available text
Policy and regulatory responsenot reported in available text
Justice proceedings and outcomesnot reported in available text
Coercion and exploitationnot reported in available text
Psychological distressnot reported in available text
Blackmail and extortionnot reported in available text
Help, reporting and preventionnot reported in available text
Physical or sexual harmnot reported in available text
Investment pretextnot reported in available text
Technical facilitationreported in available text
Investigation and operational responsenot reported in available text
Organization and division of labornot reported in available text
Relationship-based deceptionreported in available text
Involvement in other offendingnot reported in available text
Continued or renewed targetingnot reported in available text
Prior circumstances and claimed vulnerabilitynot reported in available text
Institutional barriers or harmful responsenot reported in available text
Moving money for a schemenot reported in available text

Connected reporting

Only direct reviewed connections are shown. Shared wording is weaker evidence than a supported case connection. A connection through a third article does not establish that two reports concern the same case.

Shared wording

Woman, 77, 'totally convinced' by deep fake loses £17K in twisted romance scam

Own named Nikki MacLeod/McLeod and77female/onlinefemale/deepfake/retired-academic constellation supports qualified cross-year reportedfamily. GBP17k2024 versusGBP20k2025 is an unresolved source amount difference, not increasedloss/proceduralfollowup. NamedBBC/Italian/Yahoo andrareLBC77female context are source-specific; anonymousDailyMailacademic andPunchbereavement bridge remainheld. Priorprotectedlabel/kind/amountqualifications unchanged.

Shared wording

Retired professor 'fell head over heels' before losing £20k in AI romance scam

Own named Nikki MacLeod/McLeod and77female/onlinefemale/deepfake/retired-academic constellation supports qualified cross-year reportedfamily. GBP17k2024 versusGBP20k2025 is an unresolved source amount difference, not increasedloss/proceduralfollowup. NamedBBC/Italian/Yahoo andrareLBC77female context are source-specific; anonymousDailyMailacademic andPunchbereavement bridge remainheld. Priorprotectedlabel/kind/amountqualifications unchanged.

Shared wording

Retired professor 'fell head over heels' before losing £20k in AI romance scam

Own named Nikki MacLeod/McLeod and77female/onlinefemale/deepfake/retired-academic constellation supports qualified cross-year reportedfamily. GBP17k2024 versusGBP20k2025 is an unresolved source amount difference, not increasedloss/proceduralfollowup. NamedBBC/Italian/Yahoo andrareLBC77female context are source-specific; anonymousDailyMailacademic andPunchbereavement bridge remainheld. Priorprotectedlabel/kind/amountqualifications unchanged.

Shared wording

Romance scammer duped £17k from me with deepfakes

Own named Nikki MacLeod/McLeod and77female/onlinefemale/deepfake/retired-academic constellation supports qualified cross-year reportedfamily. GBP17k2024 versusGBP20k2025 is an unresolved source amount difference, not increasedloss/proceduralfollowup. NamedBBC/Italian/Yahoo andrareLBC77female context are source-specific; anonymousDailyMailacademic andPunchbereavement bridge remainheld. Priorprotectedlabel/kind/amountqualifications unchanged.

Shared wording

Truffe sentimentali online: rubate 17.000 sterline ad una 77enne

Own named Nikki MacLeod/McLeod and77female/onlinefemale/deepfake/retired-academic constellation supports qualified cross-year reportedfamily. GBP17k2024 versusGBP20k2025 is an unresolved source amount difference, not increasedloss/proceduralfollowup. NamedBBC/Italian/Yahoo andrareLBC77female context are source-specific; anonymousDailyMailacademic andPunchbereavement bridge remainheld. Priorprotectedlabel/kind/amountqualifications unchanged.

Research provenance

1 saved revision. Corrections preserve earlier versions.

A page can change after it first appears. Observation dates record when its URL was seen; they do not prove that the wording assessed here was present on every date.

Record: 1a063474635790b5385b420682e586a49fcfe3a3a28bf7bb7a653e605091b9bb
Decision: 60a2fd914303fd47e00fd3820fca3190fa0717baf80c23125983a09a96ad8f6a
Base reviewed revision: 32fb28b4fe78ab6a294a715a7aced9a6e0a75b33db1d1bffc7352c7bab4b084c

The local research archive retains source hashes, quoted evidence and review records. This collection does not redistribute full publisher articles.