Beware of New AI-Powered Scam Tactics, Numerous Victims Already

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Digital scam tactics continue to emerge. Now, cybercriminals are exploiting artificial intelligence (AI) technology and recruiting “face models” to carry out deepfake-based operations that are increasingly difficult to detect.

This phenomenon has been revealed by the proliferation of job openings for “AI models” in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia, which is known as one of the world’s largest centres for online scam operations.

“In the past year up to now, they have also been recruiting people to become AI models,” said Hieu Minh Ngo, a cybercrime investigator from the Vietnamese non-profit organisation ChongLuaDao, quoted from Wired (24/3/2026).

“They provide software to swap faces using AI and carry out love scams,” he added.

Ngo identified around two dozen Telegram channels posting openings for AI models in the region. Humanity Research Consultancy has also tracked job applicants in cities known as scam centres.

The applicants, mostly women in their early 20s, are recruited to make video calls using face manipulation technology to convince victims.

Instead of working for legitimate companies, they end up running scams that build emotional relationships with victims before draining their money, usually through cryptocurrency investments or love scams.

In practice, these AI models are tasked with making hundreds of video calls each day. With the help of special software, their faces can be altered in real-time to resemble more attractive and convincing fake identities.

Not only sophisticated, these operations are also organised on an industrial scale. In fact, several locations are reported to have dedicated “AI rooms” for conducting mass scam calls.

What is concerning is that some workers are recruited with promises of high salaries up to thousands of dollars per month. However, behind that, they must work under extreme conditions with risks of violence and abuse. In some cases, workers’ passports are confiscated to prevent them from escaping.