As Valentine’s Day approaches, new research has revealed growing concerns about the rise of AI-generated deepfakes on dating apps, with 75% of UK respondents claiming to have encountered fake profiles while searching for love. The study by Sumsub, a leading identity verification platform, highlights the increasing risk of romance scams, with nearly £410 million lost to such scams in the past five years.
The research shows that deepfake technology, which can generate hyper-realistic yet fake images and videos, is causing significant anxiety among users. A worrying 86% of singles expressed concerns about the impact of deepfakes on society and the internet, with 81% believing dating apps are not doing enough to protect users from AI content.
This is further supported by the fact that 64% of respondents said deepfakes make dating harder, with 43% stating they would use dating apps less if AI-generated content becomes more prevalent. Alarmingly, 37% of users want all artificial or edited content banned from dating platforms altogether, while 11% would stop using the apps entirely.
Despite deepfakes becoming more sophisticated, people often overestimate their ability to spot them. The study found that 79% of those who had been deceived by a deepfake were confident in their ability to identify them. However, younger users are more frequently misled, with 22% of those aged 25 to 34 admitting they had been duped by AI-generated content, compared to 16% of those aged 55 and above.
The dangers of deepfakes extend beyond awkward online encounters. 54% of participants feared that deepfakes increase the risk of being scammed, and two in five (39%) of users admitted they would consider creating a deepfake to make money. Worryingly, 46% of users said deepfakes could lead to physical violence, including sexual abuse, while 49% believed they could cause emotional and mental harm.
Dating apps are particularly vulnerable to identity fraud, with the latest data from Sumsub’s 2024 Identity Fraud Report revealing that the dating industry experienced the highest rate of ID fraud, surpassing even finance and online media sectors. Dating apps’ often inadequate verification measures allow malicious actors to bypass security checks and create fake profiles to scam users for financial gain or more sinister motives.
The survey also asked users what measures they believed dating apps should adopt to protect people from deepfakes. Over a third (34%) said they would support active monitoring of conversations to detect suspicious activity, and 40% backed a cross-platform database of repeat deepfake users to restrict or ban them across all apps. Other suggested measures include re-verification of identities (46%) and more thorough verification processes during sign-up, such as video checks (44%).
Pavel Goldman-Kalaydin, Head of AI & ML at Sumsub, emphasised the urgent need for stronger verification systems to combat the growing threat of deepfakes. He warned that without meaningful action, dating apps risk exposing users to financial, emotional, and physical harm, further accelerating the user exodus from these platforms.
