Two brothers are raking in millions from webcam sites where men hand over a fortune as they fall for models’ fake sob stories.
Callous Tristan and Andrew Tate admit their business is a “total scam” but say the authorities cannot stop them. They claim to run a studio where 75 lingerie-clad models take calls from fans paying $4 a minute.
Punters can ask for private shows and pay tips “at their own risk”.
Tristan says one man handed over his £20,000 inheritance, while others have run up huge debts. And the kickboxing brothers – raised on a council estate – sit back and watch the money roll in.
Tristan, 33, and Andrew, 35, own 22 cars including a Bugatti, a Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari, two Lamborghinis and a £650,000 Aston Martin Valhalla on order.
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They once had a private jet, both have posed up with guns and Andrew, 35 – who was on TV’s Big Brother in 2016 – was pictured counting mounds of cash.
Some of their customers fall for the belief that they can have a real relationship with the women they see on screen.
But Tristan brazenly told the Sunday Mirror “it’s all a big scam,” and bragged he doesn’t feel any guilt because “no one cares” and “it’s their problem not mine”.
The brothers grew up in Luton, setting up their first webcam studio in a two-bed flat in the Bedfordshire town a decade ago.
After three years they moved to Romania, saying the UK “had gone downhill”. They have women on a number of seedy sites. Operators take a 40% cut and the rest goes to the studio.
The more punters hand over, the more models earn. Some women will claim to have crippling university debt, a family member in need of private healthcare, or a dream of moving to the UK – sometimes even telling men they want to meet them.
“Whatever the excuse is, it is a lie,” Tristan said. He believes he is beyond the reach of the authorities because of two lines in the terms and conditions.
He said: “One is broadcasting is ‘for entertainment purposes only’. That means if a model says she has a sick dog or a sick grandma it doesn’t have to be true. The next is that all cash given to models is ‘a voluntary sign of gratitude for their time broadcasting’.”
Lawyer Paul Hampson, owner of CEL Solicitors in Liverpool, said UK laws haven’t kept up with technology, which allows constant communication and instant access to online banking.
Of the T&Cs claim, he said: “If they’re implying different things and it’s beyond the scope of that online contact, that’s not okay.
A term of a contract has to be fair. You can’t just have a unilateral term in there to say ‘everything we do is fine’.”
Andrew said one model they took to Bucharest used the name Chloe. Viewers were told she was in London – making her seem more attainable to UK men.
Andrew added: “Four dollars a minute to keep her company was a good deal, however she made her real money because men fell in love with her and believed her fake story and tipped thousands to keep her attention and stop other men seeing her.
“Even when the face of the personality was sleeping, our girls behind the scenes would use ‘Chloe’s’ phone and constantly work on the relationships with her ‘boyfriends’.
“It’s a total scam. The model just has their hands on a keyboard that isn’t even plugged in. I have real professionals who are fluent in English behind the scenes getting men hooked, finding out their interests, the name of their dog.
“A guy will come online, they’ll say, ‘How’s Sparky?’ It’s an operation of professionals who lure these men in.”
Tristan said 80% of money earned by British models came from men in the UK, but if a model is Slovakian, 80% comes from Americans.
He said he once tried to stop a man spending his £20,000 inheritance on Chloe, but gave up when the punter came back weeks later and gave the money to another woman.
“Men will give all they have,” he said. “I’ve seen men sell cars, TVs. With Chloe, this guy’s gran passed away and they were waiting for the sale of the house. When the house was sold he’d get £20,000 and promised it to Chloe, to pay for her fake financial problem.
“We had his phone number. I was only a year into the industry. I called the guy. I said, ‘Hello, my name is Tristan Tate, I know you used myfreecams. com. Let me tell you Chloe works at a studio I own. Financially she’s fine, keep your £20,000.’ I gave him this advice.
“He thanked me. He deleted his username from the site.” But weeks later the man visited another site and Tristan told staff to “take him for everything he’s got”.
Tristan said he “runs a legitimate business and if they abuse it it ’s their problem”.
He added: “The addiction in terms of a beautiful woman you think might be in love with you, the addiction is very real. I’ve seen it crush them.
“They’ve turned violent and angry when they run out of money and realise models aren’t going to move to Utah to be with them in their trailer.”
The women can earn a fortune too. One, a Londoner named Jessica, 29, used to work for the brothers and said several men paid “thousands” to cover the cost of a boob job.
She now works for OnlyFans, where users pay for content, and earns £10,000 a month.
Former bathroom designer Jessica owns homes in Romania and the UK and admits: “When it was the guys who were in love with me, I did feel guilty.”
A note on myfreecams’ website says: “Tips are gifts… if you have a specific request for a model, talk to her about it and perhaps invite her to a private show… tip at your own risk!”
A source for Action Fraud said there were numerous reports of “women on these websites making requests for financial assistance”.
A Government spokesman said: “Dishonestly making false representations for financial gain is against the Fraud Act 2006.
“To strengthen protection we are bringing in the Online Safety Bill, which will create a proactive duty on social media companies to tackle fraud on their platforms.”
