Police in Spain have arrested five people over a $360,000 scam involving them posing as Hollywood star Brad Pitt
Police in Spain have arrested a group of criminals who scammed their targets by posing as Brad Pitt.
The group had targeted two women and conned them out of €325,000, around $361,000.
In a statement, Spain’s Guardia Civil police force said that the group posed as the Oscar-winning actor online and led the women to think that ‘they had a sentimental relationship with him’.
After developing the fake relationship with the women, the scammers then suggested that they invest in a number of projects.
The problem was that these projects did not actually exist, and the criminals could simply steal the money.
Two women were defrauded by the scam, with one in the southern region Andalusia losing €175,000 (around $194,000) and another in the northern Basque Country losing €150,000 (around $166,000).
Police shared that the criminals had studied their marks’ networks and profiled them before acting.
The fraudsters posed as Brad Pitt (Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)
In a statement, 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 added that the criminals had even led their marks to believe they were speaking to Brad Pitt.
The statement continued: “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.”
Five people in were arrested in Andalusia in connection with the case, including people suspected by police to be the group’s leaders.
A number of mobile phones and bank cards were seized from five homes, as well as a diary ‘in which the phrases used by the fraudsters to deceive their victims were written down’.
The scammers made promises about a romantic relationship (Kinga Krzeminska / Getty)
Officers also recovered money which was defrauded from the two women totalling €85,000, or around $94,500.
Online scams are a huge danger, with fraudsters often using very sophisticated and manipulative means to defraud their targets.
One man lost his entire life savings of $715,000 after being tricked by a scammer online.
The man, who was not named, was targeted by someone posing as a 37-year-old Chinese woman living in San Francisco.
After building up trust, the scammers would use emotional blackmail when their target began to get suspicious or not comply with their demands.
Unfortunately, once he sent over his money for an ‘investment’, he never heard from them again.
Featured Image Credit: Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images for Turner / Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
