Online daters have been warned about the dangers of fake celebrity profiles after a woman was duped out of thousands of pounds by a romance fraudster posing as Hollywood star Nicolas Cage.
The woman believed she was exchanging messages with the Oscar-winning actor on Facebook and lost about £10,000 in the scam, the charity Victim Support revealed.
Reports of romance fraud have soared during the pandemic but a senior detective told Sky News they were “the tip of the iceberg” as many victims are too embarrassed to come forward.
Almost 9,000 cases were reported in England, Wales and Northern Ireland last year – an increase of more than a quarter (27%) on the year before, police figures show.
Some of those targeted have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds to people they thought they were in relationships with, according to Victim Support.
Lisa Mills, senior fraud manager at the charity, said the woman conned by the fake Nicolas Cage profile was vulnerable and she “could ill-afford to lose” the money.
The fraudster behind the account – who is not thought to have been found by police – claimed Cage needed the funds for “tax reasons” and he planned to visit the UK, while urging the victim to keep their relationship “on the low down”, Ms Mills added.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Cage whose representatives…
