Sunni Wan lost $49,000 (£36,813) to scammers. Now the Australian mother has found her own tears being used to rob other people.
Footage of Ms Wan visibly distressed in a media interview was allegedly repurposed in AI-generated Facebook adverts for a fake Interpol recovery service. The pitch was simple: lost money to investment fraud? We can help you get it back.
It couldn't have been further from the truth.
Ms Wan was first targeted by investment fraud in 2023. She later took up the fight for hundreds of HSBC customers seeking reimbursement, which is how the interview came about. The scammers then took that moment of genuine pain and turned it into bait.
'It's quite appalling. I was just shocked. Like, how could they use that? I was a victim myself and they used that to create more victims. That's just crazy. I never thought such a thing would happen,' she told.
How a Real Victim's Credibility Became the Scammers' Most Powerful Tool
This was not your average impersonation. The scheme allegedly borrowed the credibility of someone whose experience of fraud was real, and that makes it far more convincing.
Ms Wan, who runs influencer accounts with 28,000 TikTok followers, now worries that new victims could track her down. Her face is front and centre in the adverts.
She also carries a sense of guilt she doesn't deserve.
'I feel quite bad, even though I wasn't involved with it. But like my face is there so ... I feel bad for those people that got lured into it ... They should be able to stop these things.'
It is a cruel twist. Criminals can now take real human suffering and use it to build trust with people who are desperate to get their money back.
Fake News Pages, Slick AI Videos and a Russian-Speaking Operator Behind the Campaign
Cybersecurity company Infoblox looked into the adverts and pointed the finger at a Russian-speaking actor.
The campaign used AI-generated videos promoted through fake news pages, which funnelled users to polished websites promising to recover lost funds.
'We've been tracking an actor deploying some slick AI-generated video ads boosted by fake news pages funnelling users to polished lure sites promising miracle turnarounds. Talk about a sequel nobody asked for,' Infoblox said.
Meta took down the adverts featuring Ms Wan after stories appeared in Hong Kong media. Others, Infoblox warned, are still live.
'The Russian-speaking actor behind this is pivoting fast, spinning up new brands, domains, and legal services at scale,' the company said.
That speed is the point. AI lets fraudsters build new identities in no time, so when one advert is caught, they simply start again.
Experts Warn AI Could Fuel a Global 'Scampocalypse' Within the Next Few Years
Experts think so. A Thomson Reuters Institute report warned that AI could fuel a global 'scampocalypse'.
It predicts that by 2027 scammers will test new approaches non-stop, adapt to defences in real time and never need a break.
'Rather than manual trial-and-error, scammers can now run thousands of experiments simultaneously to optimise their attacks,' the report said.
The real-world examples are already here. In October, Victoria Police warned of AI-assisted phone scams aimed at Mandarin speakers, with callers posing as medical professionals. One scammer copied the voice of a doctor the victim knew, then talked them into buying $50,000 (£37,556) worth of gift cards over three days.
Why a Promise To Get Your Money Back Can Be the Most Dangerous Lie of All
Scam psychology expert Dr Martina Dove says AI makes it much easier for criminals to build convincing relationships with potential victims.
Fake websites, invoices and documents once took time and technical skill. Now they take minutes.
Her biggest worry is AI bots that personalise conversations, exploit someone's circumstances and gradually persuade them to hand over their money.
Experts are calling on banks, telecoms companies, tech platforms and governments to team up, spot suspicious behaviour and step in before savings disappear.
For Ms Wan, the damage is already personal. Footage of her worst moment could now be used to trick others.
And her warning captures the devastating cycle at the centre of the alleged scheme: 'I was a victim myself and they used that to create more victims.'
