(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
AFP
Lagos: A French woman who lost her life savings to scammers pretending to be American actor Brad Pitt is seeking to unmask at least three Nigerians her legal team accuses of defrauding her.
The scammers tricked the victim, identified as 53-year-old Anne by French broadcaster TF1, into believing she was in a romantic relationship with the 61-year-old hollywood star by using AI-generated photos.
The case illustrates how Nigerian scammers, already known for a variety of internet schemes including "romance" scams, are pivoting towards new technologies to swindle victims.
Anne told TF1 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.
The scammers claimed that the actor urgently needed money to pay for kidney treatment, alleging that his bank accounts had been frozen due to ongoing divorce proceedings with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
Anne's lawyer Laurene Hanna said her client lost 830,000 euros ($850,000) to the scammers.
Anne has been in touch with Marwan Ouarab, the founder of the FindmyScammer website, in a bid to find the fraudsters, the attorney said on X.
According to French daily Le Parisien, which quoted Ouarab, the scammers -- three men in their 20s -- are located in Nigeria.
Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) anti-graft agency said it can only investigate the claim if a petition is submitted.
"It is a petition that authorises the EFCC to act," spokesman Dele Oyewale told AFP.
'Yahoo Boys'
Africa's most populous country is saddled with a reputation for internet fraudsters known in local slang as "Yahoo Boys".
The influence of internet fraudsters in popular culture has risen steadily since Afrobeats star Olu Maintain in 2007 released 'Yahooze,' a song eulogising fraudsters.
Several Nigerian songs referencing cyberfraudsters -- also known locally as "419" in a reference to Nigeria's criminal code for fraud -- enjoyed mainstream success.
Nigerian authorities, in 2019 and 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, Shallipopi -- real name Crown Uzama -- and his manager were arrested in May 2023 for "internet-related fraud," EFCC said.
In November 2022, a US court sentenced Ramon Abbas, a Nigerian fraudster once popular with politicians and celebrities, to a 135-month jail term and was ordered to pay $1,732,841 in restitution to two victims.
US authorities said Abbas "conspired to launder tens of millions of dollars through a series of online scams".
The use of AI is a new twist to an old crime, one expert told AFP.
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