A collection of e-mail and WhatsApp scams concentrating on girls in Spain have resulted in losses of over Rs 3 crore. The scammers, posing as Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, have managed to deceive quite a few victims into sending them substantial sums of cash.
A girl from Andalusia in southern Spain was defrauded of 175,000 euros (roughly Rs 2 crore), whereas one other lady from the northern Basque Nation misplaced 150,000 euros (over Rs 1 crore).
How the rip-off occurred
The scammers employed quite a lot of techniques to realize the belief of their victims. They contacted the ladies by a Brad Pitt fan web page, promising romantic relationships and engaging them to put money into a number of nonexistent tasks. They focused these girls by monitoring their social media exercise.
What the police stated
As reported by the Guardian, Spain’s Guardia Civil police, stated, “The cybercriminals, to seize the victims, had studied their social networks and made a psychological profile of them, thus discovering that each girls have been two susceptible folks, missing in affection and in a state of despair.”
“In addition they used instantaneous messaging platforms to change messages and emails with the 2 girls till they reached some extent the place they believed they have been chatting through WhatsApp with Brad Pitt himself, who promised them a romantic relationship and a future collectively,” added the police.
The police arrested 5 people from Andalusia and carried out raids on a minimum of 5 houses associated to the case. They seized a number of cell phones, two computer systems, financial institution playing cards, and a diary containing phrases used to deceive the victims. Moreover, the police recovered 85,000 euros (roughly Rs 80,000).
