A scam involving AI-generated images of Hollywood star Brad Pitt used to defraud a French woman of $850,000 (N1,313,258,500) has been traced to Nigeria.
The fraudsters posed as 61-year-old Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, claiming to require money for a kidney transplant as his accounts had been frozen due to his ongoing divorce from Angelina Jolie. Their victim is a 53-year-old identified as Anne by French broadcaster TF1.
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A France 24.com report says the victim told TF1 that she was first targeted on Instagram by someone posing as Pitt’s mother after she shared pictures of herself skiing in the resort of Tignes.
Lady Anne’s lawyer, Laurene Hanna, said her client lost 830,000 euros to the scammers.
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The attorney said on X that Anne has been in touch with Marwan Ouarab, the founder of the FindmyScammer.com website, to find the fraudsters.
According to the French daily Le Parisien, which quoted Mr Ouarab, the scammers — three men in their 20s — are in Nigeria.
Lady Anne seeks to unmask at least three Nigerians her legal team accused of defrauding her.
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France 24.com quotes the EFCC as saying it can only investigate the claim if a petition is submitted.
The platform noted that spokesman Dele Oyewale told AFP that “it is a petition that authorises the EFCC to act,” spokesman Dele Oyewale told AFP.
Unmasked
Daily Mail also quoted Mr Ouarab as saying he gained access to the scammer’s phone by sending him a ‘booby-trapped link’ disguised in a message.
The scam investigator and his team uncovered the scammer’s identity and the address where he carries out his scams in Nigeria.
The case illustrates how Nigerian scammers, already known for various internet schemes, including “romance” scams, are pivoting towards new technologies to swindle victims.
READ ALSO: Alleged $345,000 Diversion: EFCC halts arrest warrant against Mercy Chinwo’s Manager
This has caused a social media stir, as Nigerians have lamented the stigmatisation that comes with the romance scam trend.
The influence of internet fraudsters in popular culture rose when Afrobeats star Olu Maintain released ‘Yahooze,’ a song eulogising fraudsters, in 2007.
Several Nigerian songs referencing cyber fraudsters—also known locally as “419” about Nigeria’s criminal code for fraud—enjoyed mainstream success.
In 2019, the EFCC, in a case due to resume in March, briefly arrested a popular local musician known as Naira Marley on conspiracy and credit card fraud charges. Another musician.
Despite the negative attention and the demand that scammers be caught and brought to book, the incident has sparked a broader conversation about the extent of such scams and the ongoing use of AI technology in fraudulent activities.
As the story gains traction on social platforms, the focus has turned to how the scammers could pull off such an elaborate scheme and the potential for AI-driven scams to escalate.
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