Refundee identifies Celebrity ‘face-swap’ Impersonation scams
The UK public lost almost £31 million to romance scams in 2021, showing a huge increase of 79% on the amount lost in 2020. Most of these were online romance scams and many involved celebrities or military personnel in military romance scams.
Dating scams are on the rise and Refundee have identified a new ‘trick’ the scammers use to pull the wool over the eyes of potential victims.
What is a Romance Scam?
Romance scams involve victims being tricked into sending money to fraudsters who, over time, had built a close relationship with them and made them believe they were in a genuine and trusting relationship. Romance scammers typically start by being attentive and there for the victim emotionally, sharing information and listening to the victims life stories and deepest feelings. They use this information to manipulate the victim, and once they've gained their trust, they begin asking for money.
Typically these will be requests based on an urgent need for money and something that is emotive, such as their arrest by the police, immigration officials or medical bills due to hospitalisation.
What is a ‘catfish’ celebrity dating scam?
Romance scammers have been impersonating celebrities and targeting fans with dating scams. They typically look for fans online and then foster a relationship with that person, using photos of the celebrity posted online and on social media to trick the victim into thinking they are speaking with the celebrity directly. They foster a relationship, and then request money from the victim. At Refundee we have seen a very large number of celebrities being impersonated in very convincing dating scams.
What is the new celebrity ‘face-swap’ impersonation scams Refundee has identified?
Refundee has identified that dating scammers have begun to use ‘deepfake’ technology and celebrity filters in their scammers. They typically target the victims on social media, and can initially use their ‘Business Manager’ or other members of their inner circle to set up calls and act as middleman.
We have seen numerous examples where when the victim had asked for a video call with the celebrity, this has taken place for a short period of time and they have seen the celebrity in the call. Based on detailed testimony, it looks clear to Refundee that dating scammers are using ‘filters’ and potentially ‘deepfake technology’ in order to make themselves appear on video calls as the celebrity they are impersonating. In short video calls where they have bad reception, this trick can be incredibly convincing and is something that we urge victims to look out for.
Which celebrities are being impersonated?
This is a very large list unfortunately. The celebrities we have seen impersonated the most include:
Jason Statham
Fans of Jason Statham have been targeted across Facebook and other social media channels by dating scammers. They often make contact directly or pretend to be his business manager. A recent example reported by the BBC showed that the scammers impersonating Jason Statham were able to steal hundreds of thousands of pounds from a UK Victim.
Paul Hollywood
The Great British Bake-Off actor warned his followers on social media when he found out dating scammers were using his profile to trick victims in catfishing scams. The press reported that they identified victims who had sent thousands of pounds to the catfishing scammer.
Scarlett Johannsson
As with the other celebrity impersonators, the scammers use pictures taken from the internet and pretend to be the Disney actress. There have also been instances involving deepfake/filters on video with the catfish scammers.
How to prevent a Romance Scam
Verify the photos they send - Upload any pictures into a Google reverse image search and see if it is one they stole off the web
Romance scammers don’t want to spend too much time on the dating platforms other than to trap victims so watch out for them quickly trying to move you over into other channels such as SMS or WhatsApp
The romance scammer wants to build the relationship as quickly as possible so look out for the potential date falling in love too quickly or being too upfront with their feelings
Get them on a video call, and if they cant do it or it has connection issues treat this as a red flag
Someone you met, but have not seen in real life, asks for money for something urgent such as medical bills or fees to leave their military service
They claim to have jobs that keep them out of the country a lot. For example, in the army or working on an oil rig
Tinder Swindler Scams
Sometimes dating scammers follow the approach made famous by the Tinder Swindler, ‘Simon Leviev’. In this case, he scammed several women out of an estimated £10 million in a romance scam where he assumed a fake identity as a high powered businessman from a powerful family that was deep in the diamond business.
The inclusion of diamonds, gold, or other precious commodities are commonly used by scammers to present themselves as extremely wealthy. We have helped many victims of romance scams where the person built a relationship with them, and led them to believe that they had a successful business involved with these commodities. They then led the victims into taking part in their business venture, either as a short term ‘cashflow’ solution on a big deal or as a more permanent fixture. As with the Tinder Swindler, unfortunately the jewels did not exist and it was just another tactic used by the fraudster.
Military Romance Scams
Whilst not celebrities, Refundee has seen a huge increase in the impersonation of military personnel and doctors working in war zones. The scammers here typically claim to be part of the army, or attached to the army as a doctor in a war zone, and after building a relationship, ask for money desperately as the situation in the country war zones. The locations typically involve Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and can also involve impersonation of the United Nations.
Anyone involved in online dating should be on the lookout for military romance scams and any mention of the person working abroad in the above mentioned countries.
I have lost money to a dating scam, can I get my money back from my bank?
If you have lost money to this type of scam, Refundee can help you get your money back from your bank and you can fill in our fraud refund claim form for a free consultation. Our fee is 15% plus VAT on anything that we get back, and we don't charge anything if we are not successful. For larger cases, the fee is subject to a maximum of £10k plus VAT per case.
Remember you don’t need to use a company like Refundee, you could work your case yourself for free! If you’d like to get a refund yourself, you can do this by following our bank transfer refund guide.
