Pensioner, 66, travels 80 miles to meet pilot... only to discover it was an AI romance scam
A lovestruck pensioner travelled 80 miles to meet a pilot, only to discover she had been duped in an AI romance scam.
Ipho Na-hae, 66, a member of the Muser hill tribe in northern Thailand, thought she had met her true love as she began talking to a handsome man named Chai, who claimed to be a pilot at the Chiang Mai International Airport.
She reportedly fell in love with the younger man before leaving her home to meet him on September 16.
Without telling her family, the infatuated grandmother boarded a bus to Chiang Mai province, some two hours away, before taking a taxi to the airport.
She then scoured the terminal for her online boyfriend, flashing his photo to staff as she tried to find him.
But her fiery love was doused when personnel told her Chai did not exist, and she had been speaking to a digital avatar the whole time.
Tourist police were called to the scene at around 8 pm local time to help the heartbroken pensioner return home.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Nithiphat Bulmak of the Tourist Police said communication was difficult as Ipho could barely speak Thai, expressing herself only through her tribal language.
He said : ‘We asked security officers to allow her to sleep for the night and prevent her from going anywhere.
‘On the morning of September 17, we sent her by taxi to the bus terminal.
‘She took a green bus at 8 am to Wang Nuea district in Lampang, where her son was waiting.'
AI-generated profiles are increasingly being used in romance scams in Thailand, where fraudsters pose as potential partners to build trust before soliciting money.
