A Romanian woman settled in Spain lost over a thousand euros after being the victim of a cyber scam in which an individual pretended to be Brad Pitt and asked her for money, writes Digi24.ro.
The 62-year-old woman, Elena Cornea, has been settled in Ourense for 12 years. She fell into the scammers’ net after receiving seemingly convincing evidence that she was talking to the Hollywood star.
In an interview given to the La Region publication, the Romanian reported how she was tricked into transferring the amount of 1,300 euros.
Gift of 50,000 euros
The initial contact took place on the TikTok platform last fall, where Brad Pitt allegedly offered her a “VIP membership card” for various events and meetings with celebrities. Although initially it seemed suspicious, the woman was convinced to subscribe and started receiving messages on WhatsApp. The scammers used various tactics to gain his trust, including providing a photo with a driver’s license that appeared to belong to the famous American actor.
“I signed up with my data and he started sending me messages on WhatsApp. He proved to me that it was him with the driver’s license that had his photo on it. I was speechless,” said the Romanian.
A declared fan, Elena Cornea could not miss the opportunity to talk to the actor she admired. “He visited Romania in 2000 and I saw him from about 50 meters away. I liked him very much in the series Dallas, but I also liked him in Troy”, the woman told the reporters.
The alleged star then asked him in WhatsApp messages to give him money. The woman was convinced to transfer 300 euros from her card and another 1,000 euros by bank transfer in exchange for a gift from the United States of America.
“He gave me a package with a gift that came from the United States. I received a photo of the contents. There were jewelry and a lot of money, about 50,000 euros, and I only had to pay 1,000 euros in customs duties. I made the transfer through “MoneyGram, I went to pick up the package and it wasn’t there. My money went through Moldova to the Philippines. Then, the fake Brad Pitt asked me for another 3,000 euros to send my package directly home,” the Romanian detailed.
He said he loved me
Then the woman realized that she had been tricked and reported the scam to the police, but she feels exposed because she provided all her data, including a personal numerical code that foreigners receive in Spain, and her home address.
Asked how she believed the whole story, the Romanian said: “Well, you should have seen how he talks to me. He sends me hearts and kisses, he plays a lot with feelings and emotions. He said he loves me.”
When she realized that she was deceived, she became very angry: “I woke up. I’m not stupid, but how many women do not wake up and are deceived much more than me. There are many women in love with celebrities on the Internet. Now I am calm and it’s good that my experience is made public, to stop these scams”.
The case is now being investigated by the Civil Guard, and the authorities believe that the perpetrators are in the Philippines, but they are difficult to identify, and the chances of the money being recovered are very small.
See the woman’s full statement:
