Woman Sends Money to "Stranded Astronaut" So He Can "Buy Oxygen"

An 80-year-old Japanese woman was scammed out of $6,750 by someone posing as an astronaut stranded in space needing money for oxygen. The scammer contacted her on social media in July. Romance scams have surged, with US victims losing $1.14 billion in 2023, double the 2021 amount, and a median loss of $2,000 per person. The elderly are especially vulnerable to these increasingly sophisticated scams, which now utilize AI for deepfakes, voice imitation, and automated chats.