BBC news reported on unfortunate events today. A British woman was scammed out of thousands of dollars after dealing with a man who pretended to be action and thriller actor Jason Statham (The Transporter and Fast & Furious). The unsuspecting fan was approached by the conman via a Facebook fan page created in homage to Statham. The two began conversing at length, with the fraudster encouraging for their conversation to continue offline via the encrypted messaging application, WhatsApp. Once the woman agreed, she began regularly communicating with the imposter over the span of many months.
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Once trust was established, the conman managed to manipulate his new acquaintance into pitching in to help him through financial troubles. The fraudulent individual had since formed a somewhat romantic relationship with the unidentified fan, using pet names "baby" and "honey' widely through their conversations. The lady agreed to help when fake Statham stated a delayed film payment was underway.
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The aforementioned tactic was one of the many used to scam the fan out of thousands of pounds. BBC reports several Western Union transfers were made for the conman on behalf of the naive woman. Though we are not certain of an exact number as the wronged fan refuses to share the specific amount. She shared with the news outlet, "It was a substantial amount, which would have made a difference to my life and my family." Furthermore, the fan admitted to having lost both her mother and fiance, which left her in a vulnerable place and increased her chances of being frauded.
The scammed individual reached out to the authorities' Economic Crime Unit to have the crime investigated.