An amazing scam
In a surprising turn of events, women in Spain have fallen victim to a clever scam involving imposters posing as Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves. The elaborate scheme saw these women defrauded of up to €700,000, with false promises and personal connections to the actors.
Use of famous names
One victim, under the alias ‘Katy’ from Barcelona, was led to believe she was interacting with Keanu Reeves on TikTok. The persuasive words and promises of the impostor led her to part with 5,000 euros for an alleged new computer for the actor.
But that was not all, the alleged Keanu Reeves continued to ask him for money, until reaching a figure of 700,000 euros sent. The reality is that the scammer managed to trick the victim using the AI-generated image and voice of the same actor.
According to what was collected by Infobae, Katy explained to En boca de todos a Cuatro the following: “He asked me for money to come here, 60,000 euros for a private jet, then he asked me for 5,000 euros for a special computer for him to create his scripts, ‘John Wick 5’ and to invest Bitcoin. I had given him 450,000 and my money never came.”
Katy was not the only victim, another woman in Granada was also convinced that she was communicating with Brad Pitt and that she was also in a relationship with the protagonist of ‘Once upon a time in Hollywood’.
The scammer asked his victim for money until he reached a sum of 170,000 euros, arguing that he needed money to be able to travel and meet in Spain. “When she accedes to the scammer’s requests, but he does nothing to see her, she becomes suspicious. He told her he was coming to Spain to shoot a movie, for which he asked her for money However, the alarms go off when no one comes here, nor is any film recorded,” explained the woman’s lawyer to Televisió Española.
Other cases of deception
A Galician woman was also the victim of an impostor who pretended to be Luo Yunxi, a famous actor from China who contacted her through an account that looked official. They started a conversation that went further and one day he asked her to come to China so they could get to know each other.
In this case the woman did not lose money, but she explained to La Voz de Galícia the serious emotional consequences she suffered. “The answer was yes. I was ready to go to China with him and leave my family, my husband and my children.”
A warning about the dangers of social media
These scandals involving stars like Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves serve as a stark reminder of the dangers lurking on social media platforms and the lengths scammers will go to exploit the unwary. This story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of online interactions.