The French woman who lost all her savings after falling victim to impostors who played him, is now trying to find the three who cheated her, who live in Nigeria and are believed to have organized the crime. According to her lawyers, the crooks convinced 53 years old If he had a love affair with the Hollywood star, pretending to be “Brad Pitt” using photos of him made with AI programs. This case shows how the fraudsters of this type, known for years because they cheated on their victims, through the internet, promising great economic benefits or pretending to be in love, modernise and now turn to new technologies. Anne told the TV channel TF1 that she was initially approached by someone through Instagram, playing Brad Pitt’s mother, after she had posted pictures of her in which she skied in the French mountains. The crooks then convinced her that the 61-year-old actor urgently needed money to pay for the treatment he was undergoing for a kidney problem, because his bank accounts had been frozen due to the divorce process with his ex-wife, Angelina Jolie. Ann’s advocate Lauren Ana said her client lost 830,000 euros. Ann and her lawyer turned to Marwan Warab, the founder of FindmyScammer.com, who specializes in digital research, in trying to track down the crooks. According to Le Parisien, Warab spotted them in Nigeria and these are three men about 20 years of age. The Nigerian Committee on Economic Crimes (EFCC), which is responsible for combating corruption, has announced that a case investigation cannot be initiated until after receiving a complaint. Africa’s most populous country has made a (bad) rumor because of online frauds, which in local slang are called “The Yahoo Boys”. Their influence on popular culture has been growing ever since the singer of the Afrobit All Maidane was released in 2007 Yahooze, a song that knits the praise of fraudsters. Many Nigerian songs referring to the phenomenon of cyber fraud have made success in the country. Cheaters are also called ‘419’, by the article of the criminal code concerning fraud. In November 2022 American court sentenced Ramon Abbas, a Nigerian con man, formerly famous for his relations with politicians and artists, to 135 months in prison and $1.73 million fined as compensation to two of his victims. Artificial intelligence is “a new tool in an old crime,” said Timothy Abel, an online crime expert. He even warned that as criminals increasingly resort to artificial intelligence and deepfake, law enforcement agencies “will turn 20 years back”. Last July Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, deleted 63,000 accounts associated with fraud and sexual extortion in Nigeria. In the second case, young men or teenagers were persuaded to send their revealing pictures to the crooks who played women and who then blackmailed them. About two months after Meta’s decision, two Nigerian brothers of 24 and 21 were sentenced to 210 months in prison each because “they exploited and blackmailed more than 100 victims”, 11 of whom were minors. An EFCC spokesman said his service is ready “to face all crimes, even those based on artificial intelligence”. Last month the EFCC announced that 792 suspects were arrested, in a single operation in Victoria Island district, Lagos. At least 192 were foreign nationals and 148 of them were Chinese. The spokesman argued that foreign gangs are recruiting Nigerians to “fish” victims online. Their main objectives are Americans, Canadians, Mexicans and Europeans.
The French woman who gave 830,000 euros to fake Brad Pete seeks crooks in Nigeria
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in Lifestyle