Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), a man synthesized a female voice, fabricated an identity for "online dating," and defrauded others of money. What legal consequences did such actions result in? How could we guard against and avoid pitfalls in this new type of scam?

[Case Review]

In February 2025, a man surnamed Zhai impersonated a woman and met Mr. Yao on a dating app. Subsequently, Zhai registered a new account on the social media platform and added Mr. Yao as a friend using a fictitious name. To gain Mr. Yao's trust, Zhai chatted with him in a female voice synthesized through certain AI technology. Gradually, they developed a romantic relationship.

Thereafter, Zhai deliberately wove a beautiful vision of being willing to live together with Mr. Yao. Under pretexts of repaying a loan, working, renting an apartment, purchasing auto insurance, etc., he has repeatedly defrauded Mr. Yao of over 50,000 yuan in total. In May 2025, Mr. Yao found out the truth and reported it to the public security organ. Before his criminal act came to light, Zhai refunded 1,000 yuan to Mr. Yao. Upon being brought to justice, Zhai truthfully confessed to the aforementioned particulars of offense.

[Decision by the People's Court]

The People's Court held upon trial that for illegal possession, Zhai fabricated facts and concealed the truth to defraud another person of property in a relatively large amount, which constituted the crime of fraud. Considering circumstances such as his status as a recidivist, his truthful confession of the crime, and his voluntary admission of guilt and acceptance of punishment, the People's Court sentenced Zhai to a fixed-term imprisonment of one year and eight months and imposed on him a fine of 20,000 yuan for the crime of fraud, accordingly.

[Judge's Comments]

I. Committing Fraud with Technology Will Incur Severe Punishment by Law

With the rapid development of new technologies such as AI, various smart applications are widely used, yet they are also opportunistically exploited by lawbreakers, giving rise to numerous new types of cybercrimes. In this case, Zhai synthesized a female voice and fabricated a female identity with AI technology to commit fraud and amass wealth under the guise of a "romantic relationship."

Now, cybercrime techniques are increasingly technical and covert, but cyberspace is not a lawless realm. Abusing AI technology to commit fraud not only infringes upon citizens' property rights and interests but also challenges the social order of credibility. The law always maintains "zero tolerance" for such acts. The People's Court strictly punishes all types of crimes committed through new technologies in accordance with the law, drawing clear ethical and legal boundaries for technology application. This is precisely to establish a clear deterrent and guidance through judicial rulings and to make it clear that any AI technology must be used in line with laws and regulations as well as public order and good customs, so as to manifest the law-based governance principle of "technology for good."

II. Beware of "Deepfakes", and Verify and Authenticate Through Multiple Channels

With the increasingly lowered threshold for technology application, it is now challenging to distinguish the true from the false by traditional methods. Many fraud models have shifted from verbal fabrication to technical forgery. In this case, Zhai transformed into an "online girlfriend," causing Mr. Yao to believe it to be true and become deeply entrenched in a false romantic relationship. This also reveals that many people are not vigilant enough in case of highly personalized and emotionalized precision scams.

The public must enhance their awareness of risk prevention in important activities such as online dating, fund transfer, and business cooperation. Even when receiving audio, video, or other highly personal information from others, one should actively cross-check and verify such information through multiple formal channels. One must not judge authenticity based solely on subjective impressions or allow emotional rhetoric to interfere with judgment, so as to avoid falling into virtual fraud traps and incurring any personal information and property loss. If one unfortunately encounters an "online dating scam," they should immediately save relevant evidence such as chat and transfer records, and report it to the public security organs as soon as possible, so as not to miss the optimal opportunity for recovering illicit funds and mitigating losses.

[Comments by Judicial Committee's Members]

Impersonating a female in an AI-synthesized voice for dating fraud in this case is a typical combination of technology abuse and emotional deception. The perpetrator used deep synthesis technology to forge an identity and swindle money under the guise of "romance," which not only infringed upon individual property rights and interests but also shook the foundation of trust in online social interactions. This case reveals the new types of criminal risks brought about by rapid technological iteration, warning that interpersonal communication in the digital age urgently requires the establishment of a new verification consensus. The People's Court punishes such technologically disguised crimes of fraud in accordance with the law, delineating red lines for conduct and calibrating value orientation through individual case adjudication. This not only clarifies the legal boundaries of technology application, but also helps escort the development of new technologies along a lawful, compliant, virtuous, and orderly direction.

[Legal Provisions]

I. Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China

Article 266

Whoever defrauds public or private property, if the amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, and shall also be fined or solely fined; if the amount involved is huge or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no less than three years and no more than ten years, and shall also be fined; if the amount involved is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no less than ten years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or subject to confiscation of property. Unless otherwise specified in this Law, such provision shall prevail.

Article 67

Although a criminal suspect does not have the voluntary surrender circumstances provided in the preceding two paragraphs, if the suspect truthfully confesses to his own crime, he may be given a lighter punishment; if the suspect's truthful confession of his own crime prevents the occurrence of any particularly serious consequence, he may be given a mitigated punishment.

Article 52   The amount of any fine imposed shall be determined according to the circumstances of the crime.

Article 53   A fine shall be paid in a lump sum or in installments within the time limit specified in the judgment. If an offender fails to pay upon the expiration of that period, the fine shall be enforced. If an offender is unable to pay the fine in full, the people's court shall demand the payment whenever it finds that he holds executable property.

If an offender truly has difficulties in paying the fine due to an irresistible calamity or for other reasons, the payment of the fine may be postponed, or the fine may be reduced as appropriate or be remitted upon a ruling of the people's court.

Article 64   All property illegally obtained by criminals shall be recovered, or they shall be ordered to make restitution or compensation; the lawful property of the victim shall be promptly returned; the contraband and personal property used in the commission of the crime shall be confiscated. All the confiscated money and property and fines shall be turned over to the national treasury, and shall not be misappropriated or handled privately.

II. Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China

Article 15   If criminal suspects and defendants voluntarily and truthfully confess their crimes, admit the alleged criminal facts, and are willing to accept punishment, they may be leniently treated according to law.