Spanish police have arrested five people for defrauding two women out of 325,000 euros (over Rs 3 crore) by posing as Hollywood star Brad Pitt through emails and WhatsApp messages. The scammers connected with the women through a fan page of Brad Pitt and promised romantic relationships and lured them into investing in several non-existent projects. They targeted the women by tracking their social networks. “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,” The Guardian quoted Spain’s Guardia civil police as saying. A woman from the southern region of Andalusia was conned out of 175,000 euros (nearly Rs 2 crore) and the other woman, from the northern Basque Country, out of 150,000 euros (over Rs 1 crore). The police arrested the five people from Andalusia and raided at least five homes in connection with the matter. They also seized several mobile phones, two computers, bank cards, and a diary that had the phrases used to lure the victims. Additionally, the police have recovered 85,000 euros (Rs 80,000 approximately). According to Marca, a Spanish tabloid, the operations were carried out in the provinces of Almería, Málaga, Vizcaya, Barcelona, Granada, Madrid, Huelva, and Seville. A similar incident came to light in January where a 63-year-old woman was scammed by fraudsters who posed as Hollywood star Kevin Costner. According to BBC News, the woman followed a Facebook page, mistaking it for the official page of the legendary actor. She was then flooded with messages asking her to purchase a voucher of 100 pounds to become an “official Costner fan”.
