SCAMMERS are using fake videos of celebrities to trick people out of thousands in their latest con trick.
An elderly woman reportedly lost about $500,000 / £440,000 to someone posing as Hulk star Mark Ruffalo.
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Japanese artist Chikae Ide was approached on Facebook initially with flattery, a classic romance scam tactic.
The victim wanted proof that he was who he said he was so they had a video call together.
In actual fact, the fraudster had used clever deepfake technology to look like the Hollywood star on webcam.
“I’m sure it was Mark himself who was behind the screen chatting with me,” Ide told Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun.
“He respected my work, and he said that I, this old lady, am beautiful.
“He also said the age difference is no problem for him, and he wants to make me happy.”
The scammer mercilessly used Ide’s past marriage to a violent man as a way to sweet talk her.
“I will never make you feel sad,” she recalled him saying.
By September 2018, the pair were unofficially married online.
Soon after, the fake Mark began asking for money.
“I missed a flight from New York to the west coast because of my divorce case,” he apparently told her.
The requests for cash kept coming, each time with a promise to pay her back.
To keep up with the demands, she sold jewellery, delayed paying staff and even used her oldest son’s savings.
Her daughter found out about the online romance in spring 2021 and eventually put a stop to it.
But by this point, Ide had lost a small fortune to her fake Mark lover.
She’s now published a novel and comic based on her experience in hope of warning others.
“It was such a stupid experience,” Ide said.
“But I hope people take it as a lesson.
“I apologize to my friends and acquaintances who lent money to me while I refused to listen to them.
“And I swear I will continue to draw manga until I die to pay them back.”
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