Spanish police arrest five in fake Brad Pitt scam

Five people have been arrested by Spanish police after being suspected of scamming two women out of AED 1.3 million (£271,000) by pretending to be the actor online.

The suspects used fan pages of the Hollywood superstar to dupe the unsuspecting victims into thinking they were speaking to the actor. 

The gang, posing as Pitt, convinced the women to invest in bogus projects which didn't exist, causing one woman to lose AED 715,000 and the other to lose AED 613,000 in the scam.

“The cybercriminals, to capture the victims, had studied their social networks and made a psychological profile of them, thus discovering that both women were two vulnerable people, lacking in affection and in a state of depression,” police said.

“They also used instant messaging platforms to exchange messages and emails with the two women until they reached a point where they believed they were chatting via WhatsApp with Brad Pitt himself, who promised them a romantic relationship and a future together.”

The five arrests happened in the southern region of Andalusia when police raided homes and seized items such as mobile phones, bank cards and computers. 

Authorities have recovered AED 347,000.