Con Artist Pretending To Be Bruno Mars Scams Woman Out Of $100K
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Police say a woman in Texas was scammed out of $100,000 after she fell in love with someone pretending to be entertainer Bruno Mars.
The woman claims to have had an online relationship with the imposter after she thought she was communicating with Mars on Instagram.
According to police, she was convinced Mars needed help with touring expenses.
Court documents show she thought he was going to quit his tour to be with her.
Prosecutors explained how people are easily conned.
"They will spend months talking to people online," said Houston County Asst. District Attorney Keith Houston. "Sometime they'll even borrow a little bit of money and return it to build up trust."
They're not stupid people, these scammers. They are very much sophisticated con artists," Houston said.
Authorities arrested two Houston men the scammer allegedly recruited to open bank accounts to deposit the victim's money.
They believe the scammer is somewhere overseas and might not ever be caught.