CNet has a report on a program developed by Russian hackers which poses as a person looking for “friends” online. Basically it starts flirting with people with and then extracts personal information from them. It is claimed to be able to establish 10 “relationships” in 1/2 an hour and can then produce a report on every person it meets with name, contact information, photos etc. Excerpt:
Among CyberLover’s creepy features is its ability to offer a range of different profiles from “romantic lover” to “sexual predator.” It can also lead victims to a “personal” Web site, which could be used to deliver malware, PC Tools said.
See full article. I have a feeling that reporter is exaggerating the capabilities of this program, because any other program that I have seen in this category (i.e. ability to carry on a conversation with humans) fall far short of what can be considered normal conversation. It doesn’t take more than 3 or 4 lines to figure out that the thing at the other end is a stupid computer. See the first example here. But anyway, if you start flirting with someone online and lose everything, don’t say you weren’t warned.