In Spain, Scammers Pose As Brad Pitt To Defraud Two Women Of Rs 3 Crore – News18

A group of scammers, posing as Hollywood icon Brad Pitt, targeted two women in Spain and tricked them into believing they were in a romantic relationship with the actor. The criminals extracted €325,000 (approximately Rs 3 Crore) from the victims. Recently, the Guardia Civil, Spain’s national police, arrested five individuals linked to this scam.

According to a report, the group first contacted the women on a fan website dedicated to the actor and led them into believing having connection with the real actor. They even went on to convince the victims to invest in various non-existent projects.

As per the Guardian, the police said, “The cybercriminals, to capture the victims, had studied their social networks and made a psychological profile of them, thus discovering that both women were two vulnerable people, lacking in affection and in a state of depression.”

“They also used instant messaging platforms to exchange messages and emails with the two women until they reached a point where they believed they were chatting via WhatsApp with Brad Pitt himself, who promised them a romantic relationship and a future together,” they added.

While one woman from Andalusia fell victim to the scammers and lost €175,000 (approximately Rs 1.60 Crore), another, from the Basque Country, lost €150,000 (approximately Rs 1.40 Crore) in the same fraud. Once the scam was exposed, Spanish authorities were quick to take action and arrested five individuals in Andalusia, including the main leaders of the scam operation.

During the investigation, Guardia Civil raided five different locations, where they confiscated several items, including mobile phones, bank cards, two computers and a diary, which had phrases used by the scammers to trick their victims.

According to the reports, police officers successfully recovered at least €85,000 (approximately Rs 79 Lakh) that the scammers had taken from the two women while pretending to be Brad Pitt.

In a similar incident, a middle-aged woman from Granada was led to believe that she was about to marry Brad Pitt. Her lawyer, Antonio Estella Aroza, initially thought it was a joke when he first heard her story. The scammer, posing as the Hollywood star, convinced the woman to transfer €170,000 (approximately Rs 1.50 Crore).

He even made promises to visit her in person for their wedding. However, when the scammer failed to show up, the woman realised something wasn’t right and she filed a complaint against the fraud.