A man in Shanghai lost nearly $28,000 after being tricked into a long-distance “relationship” with an AI-generated girlfriend, Chinese state media reported on Wednesday.

Scammers used generative artificial intelligence software to create realistic video and still images of a young woman in order to pose as the fictional “Ms. Jiao,” according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The victim transferred nearly 200,000 yuan (nearly $28,000) to what he believed was his online lover’s bank account, after the scammers used the fake images to convince him that his “girlfriend” needed funds to open a business and help a relative with medical bills.

The scammers even created a fake ID and medical reports to support the ruse, CCTV reported.

The operation was conducted by a “scammer team sending video and photos that were all created through AI or made by combining multiple images,” CCTV said, citing a police investigation.

“Throughout the process, (the victim) Mr. Liu never met Ms. Jiao in person,” it added.

A CCTV video showed photos of a woman in different scenarios, including posing with a paint palette and standing on a city street.

The emergence of AI tools able to generate convincing text, images and even live video has resulted in increasingly sophisticated scams around the world.

Earlier this month, US social media behemoth, Meta, warned Internet users to be wary of online acquaintances promising romance but seeking cash, noting that scams making use of generative AI were on the rise.

A French man whose stolen credit card was used to buy a winning lottery ticket has offered to split the jackpot with the two thieves.

CNN reports that the criminals broke into Jean-David Estele’s car in the city of Toulouse on February 3 and used his credit card to buy a few items at a bar that same day, Estele’s lawyer Pierre Debuisson told CNN on Tuesday.

Among them was a lottery ticket that turned out to be a winner worth 500,000 euros ($525,000).

“It’s a miracle for both the thieves and my client,” said Debuisson, who said that Estele is offering to split the prize money with the thieves, who appear to be homeless and have since disappeared.

French police haven’t been able to identify the pair, despite finding fingerprints as part of their investigation, Debuisson said, adding that he’s appealing to the thieves to come forward.

“Without my client’s credit card it would not have been possible to buy the ticket, but without the thieves’ behaviour, the ticket wouldn’t have been bought either,” said Debuisson.

“I really hope the thieves contact my office to strike a deal that benefits both them and my client, who, despite the crime, is extremely happy to have had his credit card stolen. It’s truly unbelievable,” he added.

Estele doesn’t want to press charges and the thieves “have nothing to fear from us,” said Debuisson.

“We don’t know much about the thieves beyond the fact that they are homeless. We have some video footage, but the quality is poor,” he said, adding that locating the pair is “proving difficult.”

Estele and his wife hope to build a new house with their half of the money, Debuisson said.

“It must be the first time that a guy who gets his credit card stolen is extremely happy to be the victim of such a crime,” he added.

“I don’t think anything like this has ever happened before. I never imagined this case would gain so much attention worldwide,” added Debuisson.

“While it might not be the craziest case I’ve handled, it’s certainly the funniest.”

The story has been picked up by media outlets across the world — including China, Russia and India.

“I don’t think anything like this has ever happened before. I never imagined this case would gain so much attention worldwide,” said Debuisson.

France’s national lottery operator Française des Jeux (FDJ) said in a statement to CNN Tuesday that it was not in a position to confirm any details of the case as “no request for the payment has been made.”

Usually, winning tickets have to be claimed within 30 days of the end of the sales period.

Toulouse Police declined to comment when contacted by CNN.

An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Tuesday sentenced a herbalist, Segun Shina, to 14 years’ imprisonment for attempted sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl who suffered epilepsy.

Justice Rahman Oshodi sentenced Shina after he pleaded guilty to an amended one-count charge of attempted sexual assault.

Shina had in a plea bargain agreement changed his plea of not guilty to guilty.

Oshodi, therefore, held that the evidence before the court, and the voluntary plea, proved that Shina committed the offence.

Oshodi, thereafter, convicted him as charged.

The judge held that he was satisfied that the convict duly understood the nature of the plea bargain agreement, and that his counsel had explained it to him.

He said: “Segun Shina, you have pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl suffering from epilepsy.

“I must emphasise that the charge with which you were earlier charged carries life imprisonment.

“You exploited the child seeking help for epilepsy and you also betrayed the trust placed on you as a traditional herbal healer.

“I have considered your plea for mercy, your lawyer’s allocutus, submission of the prosecutor and I hereby sentence you to 14 years jail term.”

Oshodi ordered that the sentence should commence from November 16, 2018, the day Shina was arrested.

The court also ordered the family of the convict to ensure his rehabilitation upon release.

“You shall have no direct or indirect contact with the family of the survivor and your name shall be registered as a sex offender under the law,” the judge also held.

Shina was initially arraigned on a charge of defilement on April 4, 2021 by the Lagos State Government.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and the State Counsel, Ms Bukola Okeowo, called two witnesses: the survivor’s mother and an investigative police officer, through whom compelling evidence and exhibits were tendered as evidence.

The survivor’s mother told the court that the survivor suffered from epilepsy and she had taken her to Shina for healing.

The offence, according to the prosecution, violate Section 262 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.

A 28-year-old man, Zubai Usman, has been taken into custody for allegedly stabbing his friend, Yahaya Aliyu, during a heated altercation over a woman in the Paso community, located in the Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

A resident named Ahmad said that the incident occurred around 10:26 p.m. on Sunday at a viewing centre.

According to Ahmad, Usman reportedly invited Aliyu’s girlfriend to the viewing centre for a conversation.

Suspecting that his friend might be romantically involved with his partner, Aliyu tracked them down to the location.

Upon finding them together outside the venue, tensions escalated when Aliyu slapped Usman in front of the woman, triggering a violent confrontation.

During the fight, Usman allegedly drew a knife and stabbed Aliyu in the neck and hand before fleeing the scene.

Ahmad recounted, “The vigilantes mobilised to the scene and saw Aliyu, who is a friend of the suspect, lying on the ground in a pool of his blood. And upon enquiry, it was discovered that his friend was dating his girlfriend secretly and he traced him to the viewing centre to fight him.”

He added, “From the available information, Zubairu claimed to have been dating the girl for two years and wanted to marry her, but his friend always came behind to pick her.”

Local authorities apprehended Usman shortly after the incident, while Aliyu is currently receiving medical care at a hospital in Zuba.

Police claimed that the incident had not been officially reported to them.

The Ekiti State High Court in Ado Ekiti has sentenced two teachers to 44 years imprisonment without an option for offence of raping their pupils.

Justice Adeniyi Familoni on Tuesday in the judgement declared that the defendants – Gbenga Ajibola (43) and Olaofe Ayodele (52) deserved severe penal sanction for their misdeeds.

He said it would serve as a deterrent to others who might want to follow their footsteps.

The judge then sentenced the defendants to 20 years imprisonment each without an option of fine on count one and two years each on count two without option of fine.

He said that the sentences should run concurrently, implying that they would each spend 20 years in jail.

The prosecution led by Kunle Shina Adeyemi had earlier told the court that the defendants, raped two female students aged 15 and 17 years (names withheld) sometimes in November 2019.

The teachers were arraigned before the court on March 2, 2022 on three counts of rape and abuse of office, while the prosecution stated that the offence contravened Section 31(2) of the Childs Right Law, Cap. C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

One of the victims in her testimony during trial, said that Ajibola was her computer teacher, and always disturbing her during classes.

She claimed that on the fateful day, he instructed her to be in mufti and gave her N200 for transportation to a meeting point.

“On this fateful day, he told me to be in mufti and gave me N200 to go and wait for him in front of a filling station on Bank Road. He later came there alongside Mr Olaofe, but before they came, one of my classmates also met me there. He told me that Mr Olaofe asked her to wait there for him’, she narrated.

“When they came, we all left for a hotel, around the Oke-Ila area of Ado Ekiti. On getting there, we were taken to different rooms where Mr Ajibola had sexual intercourse with me. After that day, he continued to disturb me. When I could no longer bear it, I narrated what happened to my mother who later took the matter up’, she added.

The prosecutor in support of his case called four witnesses and tendered statements of the victims and defendants’ medical reports, as well as the report of the panel of enquiry, among others as exhibits, while the defence lawyer Lawrence Fasanmi called six witnesses in defence of his clients.

A man, Kelvin Osamede Izekor killed his 38-year-old wife, Ugiagbe Osaiyekemwen Success Izekor, eight months after their wedding in Edo State.

LIB reported that the incident happened at No. 50 Upper Mission extension, Benin City on Saturday, February 22, 2025. 

It was gathered that the suspect smashed Success to d3ath with a hammer during a heated argument. 

A wedding invite sighted by LIB shows that the couple got married on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Benin City. 

An X user shared the couple’s wedding video, expressing shock over the tragic incident.

The spokesperson for the Edo State Police Command, Moses Yamu, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday, said the husband was about to be lynched by a mob before the police arrived, pacified them and arrested the suspect.

According to unconfirmed reports, the deceased was four months pregnant at the time of her murder. 

Neighbours claimed Kelvin had been beating the deceased even before they got married but the abuse became frequent after their wedding. 

They claimed that the suspect once attacked Success with a cutlass. 

Watch the wedding video below.

Several Nigerian men have gone on X to reveal how they would react if their only son suddenly identified as female. 

An X user painted a scenario where a man had multiple daughters and eventually welcomed one son only for the father to suddenly enter his grown son’s room and find him trying out female clothes and wearing makeup. 

Most of the Nigerian men disclosed they would disown their only son if he identifies as transgender. 

See below.

The Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki has affirmed the expulsion of the embattled PDP National Vice Chairman, South East Zone, Mr. Ali Odefa.

The judgment was delivered today, 26th February 2025, affirming the decision of his Ward Executive Committee expelling him for anti-party activities for which he was earlier suspended.

Mr. Ali Odefa, who is believed to be the hatchet man of the Oyo State Governor in party politics covering the South East ahead of the 2027 Presidential bid of the Governor, has been solely responsible for the downward spiral of the party’s fortune in the South East.

His expulsion has been long overdue and having it affirmed today is a great news for the PDP. We await to see how the Oyo Governor will now overrule the Federal High Court decision, seeing that he had encouraged the disobedience of other judgments in the past.

Silas Joseph Onu, Esq.
Former State Chairman, PDP Ebonyi State and 2024 Senatorial Candidate.