How scammers are using AI to prey on victims in the Akron area

How scammers are using AI to prey on victims in the Akron area

A swanky white mansion compound in the heart of Agona Swedru, Ghana, stands in stark contrast to the dilapidated shanties just over its walls.

TikToks filmed inside the mansion show Abu Trica and his friends flaunting their immense wealth through stacks of $100 bills, diamond-encrusted watches, jewelry and luxury cars — all recently seized by Ghana law enforcement.

"Money is everything to me," one video caption laden with emojis reads. "About to shake the world with another heavy Mansion."

Now, Trica's burgeoning real estate footprint and his money are under scrutiny as he faces federal charges in Ohio. U.S. prosecutors say Trica and others swindled scores of U.S. residents — many in Northeast Ohio — out of roughly $15 million in an elaborate romance scam, according to federal indictments.

Romance schemes are not new, but this alleged Ghana-based scam is part of an emerging class of scams that use artificial intelligence to trick victims. Despite the rise of AI-powered scams, the Federal Bureau of Investigation indicates that most people likely don't know AI is being used against them, especially in investment scams.

Now, attorneys like Courtney Werning of Columbus are ringing the alarm as scammers of all stripes increasingly use the burgeoning technology to target people of all ages.

"AI has made it worse. It helps scammers pound these people day in and day out and increases the sheer amount of calls,” Werning said.

Using AI deepfakes to target everyone

The alleged Ghana scam ring involving Trica repeatedly targeted widowers and divorcees, using AI-driven tools, prosecutors alleged. This included creating and posing as deepfake fictitious female personas on video platforms and messaging through online dating sites and social media.

Scammers use AI to clone voices from social media videos to create "voice spoofing" impersonations of people, according to the Summit County Prosecutor's Office and Better Business Bureau of Cleveland.

These tactics can be used to build trust over time and manipulate budding relationships to extract increasingly large amounts of money, Werning said. This is "long-confidence" fraud.

Colloquially, they're called "pig butchering" schemes.

As the relationship builds, so too do the money requests. Werning said it's akin to fattening up a pig for slaughter, but instead of using food, scammers use manipulation.

"AI also allows scammers to send out mass amounts of calls and messages to the same person or many people," she said. These tools help scammers instill fear by sending text messages to threaten legal action for a nonexistent speeding ticket, for example.

AI, cryptocurrency tops costliest cybercrimes in 2025, FBI says

Werning's 15 years in law focused on scams and frauds, but over the last four years, the industry has heated up. The cases have multiplied each year, expanding to cryptocurrency and cyber breaches. Now AI is being used in everything from Ponzi schemes and investment fraud to crypto and cybersecurity.

The FBI recently reported a $4 billion increase in scam-related losses from 2024 to 2025, growing from $16.6 billion to $20.9 billion. Complaints also surpassed 1 million for the first time. At least part of this increase, the report explains, is driven by AI.

The FBI began tracking AI scams in 2025. The data shows the costliest scams often use cryptocurrency and AI. Investment fraud — the costliest scam — has also increased to $8 billion in losses, but that number is actually much higher. AI investment fraud surpassed $632 million in losses.

This gap between investment and AI investment fraud could show that many victims don't realize AI is involved in these scams, the FBI speculated in its annual report, noting AI can be hard to spot.

AI makes investment schemes far easier to pull off, Werning said. Deepfakes and voice spoofs allow fraudsters the ability to change their faces and voices. Chatbots can help forge documents and write professional-sounding emails to pose as a financial expert or member of a distinct community.

Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich said affinity fraud often relies on charisma and trust, something Werning said AI can help accomplish.

“It’s a very charismatic individual who engenders trust,” Kolkovich said.

Proposed bills aim to build protections against scams

Lawmakers are working to address AI-driven crime, including identity fraud and child pornography. Others are tackling the fraud itself. New Ohio and congressional bills aim to protect elderly residents from fraud and cryptocurrency scams.

Two bills in Ohio — House Bill 648, dubbed the ELDER Act, and HB 580, titled the Protect Our Parents Act — seek to curb scams aimed at older Ohioans. Both are in committee.

Sponsored by state Reps. Matthew Kishman, R-Minerva, and Melanie Miller, R-Ashland, HB 648 would require cryptocurrency kiosks to post notices disclosing the potential risks of using the machine.

It also establishes a 72-hour hold on transactions initiated by new customers, giving those customers time to cancel the transaction, and a 24-hour transaction limit of $2,500 for new customers. Existing customers would have a $10,500 24-hour limit.

Owners and operators of kiosks would only be liable for transaction fees and commissions in fraudulent transactions. They also must verify customer identities for two or more $1,000 transactions within 24 hours.

Introduced in Congress, the Stop Crypto ATM Scams Act would similarly regulate these kiosks.

Ohio House Bill 580 is sponsored by Reps. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, and Andrea White, R-Kettering. It would require financial institutions, including banks, to report potential financial exploitation to the local department of jobs and family services and to place suspected fraudulent transactions on hold.

Law enforcement efforts to curb scams

Law enforcement agencies also are fighting back against AI-driven scams.

The FBI launched Operation Level Up in 2024, aiming to identify and notify people falling victim to cryptocurrency investment fraud. They have notified more than 8,000 victims. The Department of Justice has a section committed to fighting fraud.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation handles statewide investigations, while the Summit County Sheriff's Office and the Akron Police Department investigate more local scams and alleged fraud.

Each agency, including the Summit County Prosecutor's Office, also provides resources for victims.

Avoiding AI scams through skepticism

The changing world of scams can be overwhelming, Kolkovich said, but the best way to avoid being tricked remains the same: Be skeptical.

It's best to treat messages and calls from unknown numbers and individuals with skepticism, he said. Reach out to businesses, government entities, friends and family to verify suspicious messages that claim to be from them.

But perhaps the best advice Kolkovich offered is the adage, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is."

Bryce Buyakie is an Akron-based reporter who covers the courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com or on X @bryce_buyakie.