OpenAI banned accounts using ChatGPT to run full romance-scam workflows

Romance scams: AI-enabled romance scam workflows

OpenAI's Feb 2026 malicious-use report details banned accounts that used ChatGPT across the full romance-scam pipeline: cold-contact pings, emotion-triggering 'zings', and money-extraction 'stings'. One newly identified operation in Cambodia generated scam messages with ChatGPT and spread them on social media. OpenAI notes that AI mainly helps scammers sound more native, but the distribution method—targeted ads vs. SMS blasts—still matters more for a scam's success.

Why it matters: Official OpenAI threat intel with a concrete case study and reusable framework; all three HKR axes hit. Not scored higher because it's one case in a monthly report rather than a standalone event, and the full body was truncated.