New Delhi:

With photos from the hospital and smooth conversations, a French woman was convinced she is talking to actor Brad Pitt and scammed to the tune of 800,000 euros. The suspect messaged her on Instagram and convinced her to help him with medical treatment as his bank accounts were blocked amid an ongoing divorce case with actor Angelina Jolie.

53-year-old Anne said on the show “Sept a huit” broadcast Sunday evening on local news channel TF1  that she got a message while she was on a ski trip to Tignes from an account posing as the the actor’s mother Jane Etta Pitt. A day later an account posing as the actor contacted her and the duo started talking and soon became friends.

Anne, who was married a millionaire but going through a rough patch, continued to receive poems and declarations of love from the fake account as she remained convinced she was in a long-distance relationship with Mr Pitt. “There are so few men who write such things. I liked the man I was talking to and he knew how to talk to women,” she said.

While he always avoided her calls, he sent Artificial Intelligence-generated videos and images to convince Anne of his love for her. At the same time, he also asked her to marry him. He also told her that he had sent her luxury gift and asked her to pay 9,000 euros, but she received nothing, BFMTV reported.

Soon after, Anne’s divorce was finalised and she received a compensation of 775,000 euros. It was then that he shared more doctored videos and photos to say he was slated to undergo a kidney surgery and was already admitted to a hospital.

The scam came to light in 2024 when Anne saw reports of Brad Pitt’s relationship with jewellery designer Ines De Ramon. She was then hospitalised for treatment of severe depression.

A similar scam was reported in September last year when Spanish police arrested five people accused of scamming two women of 325,000 euros by posing as Brad Pitt via online and WhatsApp messages. The suspects made contact with the women on an internet page for fans of the Oscar-winning actor and led them to believe “they had a sentimental relationship with him”, Spain’s Guardia Civil police force said in a statement. Posing as Pitt, the members of the gang then allegedly proposed that the women invest in various projects that did not exist.

A woman in Australia who lost over a million in an elaborate scam eerily came face to face with one of the criminals while she was vacationing in China with her husband. The woman, who did not want to reveal her identity, runs a Chinese immigration and education business. Speaking to news.com.au, she said that she was distraught after learning that scammers had kept her on the hook for nearly a year through a fake online trading platform, before finally serving ties with her after draining her bank account. 

It all started when the woman received a text message from a man called Wei Chen, asking her how she was. At first, she asked the man who he was, however, she didn’t find the message alarming or strange as she runs a Chinese immigration and education business. “I thought my friends or clients introduced him to me,” she told the outlet.

Later, the two ended up getting on well. They messaged each other over WeChat and WhatsApp about food and how they had both moved to Australia. Chen told her that he was a permanent resident who ran a furniture store and he lived in the expensive Sydney suburb in a house worth over $12,000,000. 

Eventually, Chen mentioned that he staked his fortune on an investment trading website called SpreadEx. Notably, a legitimate company exists by that name in the UK as a sports betting and financial trading company, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Chen convinced the woman to put some money in. She had $191,215.50 in savings and over a period of time put all that in, and then some more. The woman also revealed that she encouraged her friends to invest in the scheme and also borrowed money from them. 

Unfortunately, the company she was dealing with was actually run by a group of scammers. In December last year – six months after the woman had invested – the UK financial watchdog put out a warning, flagging that the scammers were using an extra ‘s’, using the domain spreadexs.com instead of spreadx.com. The Australian government also put out a warning about the fraudulent site.

The woman had already invested all her savings on the platform. She even borrowed a further $286,823.25 from friends and redrew the mortgage she shared with her husband. Some of her school friends also invested as well after she encouraged them.

The woman told the outlet that when she went on a vacation to China she wanted to continue investing on the platform. This is when the scammers told her that she could directly hand over the cash to them while she was in mainland China. She met a man in what she described as a “remote dark place” and handed him over 500,000 yuan in cash. 

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While overseas, the woman also left her SpreadEx trading account in the hands of Chen, who at this point she considered a mentor. But when she returned, she tried withdrawing some of her money but her trading account was suddenly suspended. 

The scammers then told her she had to pay a risk fee for withdrawing cash. They also charged her a penalty because she had let someone else take over her account. 

The woman said the last contact she had with Chen was in April, meaning he kept the ruse going for nearly a year. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to contact him, Roxy and her husband concluded it was a scam and alerted police in September this year.

The woman said she still owes money she took from her friends and the mortgage. Victoria police is still investigating the woman’s case. 

BharatMatrimony, one of India’s leading matrimonial platforms, has landed in a huge controversy after a married woman’s photo appeared on its elite subscription service under a fake profile. The woman, Swati Mukund, called out the platform on Instagram, labelling it “BharatMatrimony Scam.”

In a now-viral video shared on Instagram, Ms Mukund clarified she did not meet her husband through any matrimonial app and strongly warned others to be careful while using the platform. 

“More acrimony than matrimony, I guess!” she wrote alongside the video.

Ms Mukund, who has more than two lakh followers, pointed out that her husband was in the first part of the video to prevent the app from using their photo to falsely claim that they had met on BharatMatrimony.

The video begins with Ms Mukund addressing the issue, saying, “So, this is a post on India’s number 1 and supposedly most trusted matrimonial app, BharatMatrimony.” A screenshot from the app appears in the video, showing her photo along with the overlay words “BharatMatrimony Scam.”

“As you can see, the picture used is of mine and for the record, this is my husband. No, I didn’t find him on any of these apps,” she clarified.

She was shocked after finding her picture was used in the app’s elite subscription service, a feature that promises to carefully curate profiles for users paying a premium for the service.

“What really appalled me is the fact that this is BharatMatrimony’s elite subscription service, where they are actually charging people pots of money and claim that they are screening and carefully curating profiles to make sure their users find the right life partner,” Ms Mukund said.

Others have shared their own experiences with the matrimonial website.

A user commented, “I have used their elite matrimony paying 1.5 lakhs…it’s the biggest scam. They give you the same few options over and over for one year.”

Another asked to “Sue them big time.”

Someone claimed, “Most of the matrimonial sites use profiles of married people. Even i have reported many.”

“Thanks for raising awareness about this issue which is common across dating & matrimony apps,” a comment read.

Ms Mukund urged users of the platform to be wary of the profiles they find there. “This is an urge to all the users of this platform to make sure that you are exercising discretion before using any of these apps because obviously, what you see is not always what you get,” she warned.

A Florida couple is facing charges of stealing properties through a simple scam that costs less than a dollar to execute. Victor Rodriguez, 50, and his wife Michelle Cherry, 33, allegedly forged “quitclaim deeds” to illegally transfer ownership of homes, including a property owned by Rodriguez’s ex-father-in-law, in Tampa and Miami-Dade County, Fox News reported.

Caroline Sauer, Rodriguez’s ex-wife, discovered the scam when she found that her father’s properties had changed ownership through quitclaim deeds. “We questioned, how did this happen?” Ms Sauer said. “Who forges a deceased person’s signature? Who does that?”

According to authorities, the scam involved forging signatures on quitclaim deeds – a legal document that transfers property ownership with the owner’s consent. These documents, however, can be easily manipulated. Fraudsters only need a notary and two signatures to process the transaction, often for as little as 70 cents in Florida.

Rodriguez and Cherry allegedly used the same scam on another Tampa property belonging to Larry and Dreama Bilby. The Bilbys were stunned when they learned in February that someone forged their signatures and transferred ownership of their home, which was unoccupied and under construction at the time.

“I was so angry, I almost couldn’t talk,” Dreama Bilby told Fox13.

Hillsborough County Clerk Cindy Stuart explained how easy it was to commit the fraud. “It only requires a notary and two signatures with an address listed next to them,” she said.

Meanwhile, Caroline Sauer and her family are battling her ex-husband in court. “The hardest thing for us emotionally has been, we’ve just tried to protect my father and his legacy,” she told the outlet.

To prove the forgery, Ms Sauer’s family hired a handwriting expert and incurred significant legal fees.

Rodriguez and Cherry were arrested in March and pleaded not guilty. Rodriguez’s legal team maintains his innocence. “Mr. Rodriguez maintains his innocence, and our office is entrusted with the responsibility of protecting his rights,” his lawyers said in a statement, adding that they are committed to ensuring “justice and fairness in legal proceedings.”

Lucknow:

A famous city-based progressive writer and poet, Naresh Saxena, was kept under digital arrest in his room for six long hours by cyberheist operators posing as CBI officers in Lucknow, police officials said.

The scammers, who aimed to con the elderly writer by frightening him with arrest in a money-laundering case, listened to his poetry for hours, even asking him to recite couplets of Mirza Ghalib and Faiz and praising his poems a lot.

Luckily, after six hours of this ‘digital house arrest’ through a video call, alarmed family members intervened and the cyber thugs failed to pull off the crime.

The writer later filed a complaint at Gomti Nagar police station.

As per reports, on July 7, at 3 pm, the writer was about to leave for a poetic session when he got a video call on his mobile phone. The man on the other side asked the writer if he had lost his Aadhar card.

“He then informed me that someone had opened an account in Mumbai using it, a money laundering case of crores had taken place through it and a case had been registered in a Mumbai police station. Then he introduced himself as CBI Inspector Rohan Sharma and said that an arrest warrant had been issued against me. But as I was an elderly person and seemed to be a good man, he would try to get me released soon if I cooperated in the investigation. Otherwise, I might face a long jail term,” Mr Saxena said.

The man then also verified the writer’s Aadhar card and asked questions pertaining to the number of bank accounts he had, the amount of money in them, the number of transactions, investments, income and income tax returns.

“I was able to see the man’s police uniform and a cap, which convinced me,” Mr Saxena added.

“As soon as he saw my room full of books, to ensure that I was the right person and the same poet he had called, he asked me to prove myself by reciting poetry. He asked me to recite the couplets of Mirza Ghalib and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. He even asked me to recite my own poems, which I did. He listened to my poems for a long time and even praised me a lot,” the writer said, adding that all this went on for six hours.

The video call session started at 3 p.m. and went on till 7-8 p.m.

The conman then told him that the CBI Chief of Mumbai would talk to him.

To convince Mr Saxena further, he told the ‘chief’ (perhaps his cohort) that Mr Saxena was a very good man and the ‘chief’ should also listen to his poems. He should be investigated on priority and be let off within 24 hours.

“The ‘chief’ said that since I was cooperating in the investigation, he would get me released within 24 hours and told me that I was currently under house arrest,” said Mr Saxena.

The men then told him to close the door of his room and not inform his family members while remaining in front of them on the video call, said the writer. But when Mr Saxena did not open his door for a long time, the family was alarmed.

Sensing that he was being tricked through a cyber fraud, his daughter-in-law snatched the phone and disconnected the call.

The matter is now under investigation, said an official of the Gomti Nagar police station.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A US woman fatally poisoned her boyfriend thinking he inherited $30 million, however, she later found out that it was all a scam. According to People, the woman, identified as Ina Thea Kenoyer, was arrested in October last year and charged with class AA felony murder, which is the most severe murder charge in North Dakota. During the investigation, cops found a bottle of Windex filled with what investigators believed was antifreeze in the couple’s living room. On Wednesday, she pleaded guilty to murdering her longtime boyfriend. She now faces up to life in prison without parole, the outlet reported. 

The cops had previously determined that Ms Kenoyer had financial motives to murder her 51-year-old boyfriend Steven Edward Riley Jr. However, investigators now say they believe the inheritance was a hoax. 

According to People, in the arrest affidavit, authorities said that Mr Riley planned to leave his girlfriend of about a decade. But in September, as he headed toward the airport with friends to meet with a lawyer about what he believed to be his newly acquired wealth, he complained of stomach pain. His friends said he seemed drunk, although later blood tests revealed no alcohol in his system.

Back then, Ms Kenoyer, who claimed she had medical training, said he had a heat stroke and would recover with rest at home. At his house, investigators found a beer bottle and a plastic mug with green liquid matching the Windex bottle. 

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After speaking to Mr Riley’s friends, authorities learnt that Ms Kenoyer had previously discussed poisoning her boyfriend with antifreeze. The coroner then tested for its key ingredient and found toxic levels of ethylene glycol in his system. But Ms Kenoyer maintained that her boyfriend had been day drinking and had gotten heat stroke. She also suggested several explanations for the poison-like symptoms. 

Ms Kenoyer proclaimed herself Ms Riley’s common-law wife and said she planned to split his newfound inheritance with his son. However, in arresting documents obtained by the outlet, she became visibly upset after investigators told her the state would not recognise her as his common-law wife. She later admitted that she had in fact spiked his sweet tea with antifreeze before his meeting with the lawyer. 

Ms Kenoyer is now scheduled to be sentenced on August 14. She may undergo another psychological evaluation ahead of her sentencing.

WhatsApp fraud, or WhatsApp scams, involve deceptive schemes aimed at manipulating users of the messaging platform into divulging personal details, transferring funds, or installing malicious software. These scams encompass a range of tactics, leveraging trust, fear, or greed. Among the existing types of WhatsApp scams, like impersonation, phishing, investment, and gift or prize scams, a new variant has recently emerged.

Now users have to be cautious of unexpected calls from group members on WhatsApp. A new audio call scam is targeting users, potentially draining their savings accounts, according to The Metro.

Action Fraud, the UK’s leading cybercrime reporting centre, has received hundreds of complaints from victims. The scam involves a fraudster impersonating a member of a WhatsApp group chat. They’ll often use a fake profile picture and display name to appear legitimate.

The scammer then initiates a call and informs the victim that they’ll be receiving a one-time passcode (OTP) to join a group video call. However, the real purpose is to gain access to the victim’s account. They’ll trick the victim into sharing the OTP under the guise of “registering” for the call.

In reality, the OTP is used to register the victim’s WhatsApp account on a new device, effectively taking control of it. Scammers can then use the compromised account to target the victim’s friends and family, potentially requesting money or spreading further scams.

In reality, the code provided is actually an access code that grants the scammer control over the victim’s WhatsApp account by registering it on a different device. Subsequently, the scammer activates two-step verification, effectively locking the victim out of their own account. With this control, the scammer can then exploit the victim’s contacts by sending messages, often soliciting money under false pretences of dire circumstances.

Detective Superintendent Gary Miles, head of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau at the City of London Police, told The Metro: “WhatsApp remains an integral mode of communication for many people across the UK; however, fraudsters still find ways to infiltrate these platforms. Sadly, anyone can become a target for fraud.”

Scamsters have defrauded thousands of people of an estimated Rs 200 crore across Himachal Pradesh by promising high returns in a short period through investment in crypto assets.

The gang, whose kingpin is yet to be arrested, used a Ponzi scheme method to lure people and also manipulated the prices of the cryptocurrencies they used to swindle money from investors.

According to the police, scamsters launched new crypto assets and also jacked up the prices of these digital currencies, which is called a rug pull in the crypto world.

So what is this rug pull?

A rug pull is a type of cryptocurrency scam in which developers of a new cryptocurrency project abandon the project and take investors’ money with them. This can happen in a number of ways, such as by disappearing with the project’s liquidity, disabling the project’s website and social media accounts, or making it impossible for investors to sell their tokens.

Fraudsters also dump their own tokens on the market, causing the price to plummet in the rug pull.

Rug pull is basically derived from the English phrase to pull the rug out from under someone, means to remove support to somebody suddenly.

Rug pull is a major problem in the cryptocurrency industry, with billions of dollars lost to such scams each year. In fact, a recent report by Chainalysis found that rug pulls accounted for over 36 percent of all cryptocurrency scams in 2021.

How to avoid rug pull

There are a number of ways to avoid becoming a victim of a rug pull. The crypto investors need to be watchful about a few factors:

1. Do your research: Before investing in any cryptocurrency project, be sure to do your research and understand what the project is trying to achieve. Look at the team behind the project and see if they have a good track record.

2. Be cautious about high returns: Be wary of projects with high returns and low risk. If a project promises high returns with low risk, it’s probably a scam. Cryptocurrency is a volatile asset class, and there is no such thing as a guaranteed investment.

3. Social Media hype may not always be true: Beware of projects that are heavily hyped. Scammers often use social media and other platforms to hype up their projects. Be wary of any project that is being heavily promoted without any substance behind it.

4. Risk tolerance: Invest only what you can afford to lose. Cryptocurrency is a high-risk investment, so only invest what you can afford to lose.