Two Chinese romance scammers were arrested in the Philippines for allegedly posing as Filipina single mums to catfish and fleece lonely Brits.

The suspected fraudsters reportedly used AI to create attractive virtual avatars which they used to trick Europeans and Japanese men into sending money.

Alleged scam ringleader Wang Huihuang, 30, and another Chinese man Liu Lin, 35, were arrested when police raided their office in the Quiapo district of the capital Manila, on Friday. The building is located just 15 kilometres away from 'Chinatown' Binondo.

Cops seized from the premises six computers linked to dating sites, multiple social media accounts and messaging platforms. They also rescued two Malaysians allegedly coerced into working for the scam hub.

Rendel Sy, chief of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) Fugitive Search Unit, said: 'One of them was the leader of the operation while the other is in charge of logistics. He rented the building and took care of their other needs.

'They use AI applications to compose their messages, and even change their voices. They pretend to be women and they contact the male victims.'

Police said the scammer trawled Facebook before striking up online conversation with western men in the UK, United States and Australia.

Authorities said the Chinese men were allegedly able to swindle the equivalent of 500,000 USD from one victim alone. They did not specify the total financial damages caused by the scam operation.

Immigration officials said the pair were found to be overstaying in the Philippines and were unable to produce valid travel documents.

Wang and Liu were arrested and are facing human trafficking and immigration charges. They were detained at the BI detention facility pending deportation.

The two Malaysian victims were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking and the Malaysian Embassy for further investigation and assistance.