A new AI-powered scam feature can detect romance scams, break the scammer’s psychological ‘spell’ and prevent victims from transferring money. It was created by Starling Bank developers and inspired by the Tinder Swindler survivor and fraud advocate, Cecilie Fjellhøy, who lost nearly £200,000 to a sophisticated romance scam.Starling’s in-app Scam Intelligence AI agent can detect 10 other types of scams including pension, deepfake and investment scams. The digital bank has rolled out this feature to its five million customers as new UK Finance (UKF) data show fraud threats are proliferating rapidly. Britons lost £576.4m to authorised push payment (APP) fraud last year, according to UKF, an increase of 19%. Romance fraud losses increased 23% and investment fraud losses soared by a staggering 40% year-on-year. “Fraud must be stopped at source, but without effective collaboration from the social media platforms where most scams originate, it’s up to individuals and their banks to keep the scammers at bay. At Starling we’re working behind the scenes to identify threats and we’re empowering our customers with tools to protect themselves,” said Bernadette Smith, Chief Customer and Banking Officer at Starling.“Fraudsters don’t care about the devastating impact romance fraud can have on people’s lives. I welcome the expansion of Starling’s AI tool and urge everyone to Stop! Think Fraud to protect themselves and those close to you,” said Lord Hanson, Minister for Fraud. “We’re investing £250 million as part of our new Fraud Strategy to crackdown on this criminality. We will use every tool at our disposal to dismantle criminal networks, bring fraudsters to justice and strengthen protections for victims.”The Scam Intelligence AI agent is part of Starling Assistant, launched by the bank in March 2026, which lets customers use voice or natural language to ask questions about their money and plan actions like transfers and budgeting. The assistant now incorporates the generative-AI ‘Scam Intelligence’ tool Starling launched in 2025 to help spot fraudulent online marketplace ads, which has been expanded to detect more than 10 different types of fraud and coach customers on what to do next. For example, a customer could say they’ve been asked to transfer £3,000 for a plane ticket for their new partner. Starling Assistant will detect the initial signs of a romance scam and ask a series of questions, such as why their partner can’t fund it themselves, where they met, and how long they’ve been in a relationship. Following these questions, the AI agent will advise the customer on whether it’s likely to be a scam, and suggest a call with the bank’s support team to discuss further.Starling’s developers received advice from Cecilie Fjellhøy after a prolific romance scammer convinced her to take out multiple loans and credit cards in her name for him to use. Her story was turned into a hit documentary film, The Tinder Swindler, streamed by Netflix. “When friends and family try to break that spell, it can cause huge rifts that push you away from the people who genuinely care and even closer to the scammer,” Cecilie Fjellhøy said. “Sometimes it needs someone or something objective, like your bank, to help you see the scammer’s behaviours for what they really are. It’s great to have been involved in helping bring this feature to life and see it make a difference to people’s lives.” “We’re using AI to create behaviour change,” said Harriet Rees, Starling’s CIO and UK Government AI champion for financial services. “We want anyone and everyone to realise that they too could be a victim of a scam. That starts with asking simple questions, and being inquisitive about what you plan to spend.”NoYesCybersecurity24 Jun, 2026