There have been some insane catfishing scandals before, but never as wild as this scheme! A man posing as Bruno Mars allegedly conned a Texas woman out of $100,000 after believing she was in a romantic relationship with the mega superstar.
What the actual f**k!
The 63-year-old victim reportedly told police in Houston that she launched a love affair with the person she thought to be the 24K Magic singer after he connected with her on Instagram in 2018. Now, we don’t know about you, but we would be hella suspicious if a random account claiming to be the Grammy award-winning musician appeared in our DMs — especially since he has his own VERIFIED Insta account. A quick search is all it would have taken.
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However, per KTRK, the unidentified lass reportedly told cops that she “fell in love” with the performer imposter and was convinced he was the real singer because he sent her some snapshots on tour. It makes us so sick that someone would pull this kind of crap on a poor woman, but we also can’t help but wonder if she ever took a step back to think maybe the photos were pulled from the hitmakers IG or Google. Either way, it’s incredibly messed up.
When she reported the crime, the gal revealed to police that she only made an Insta account in the first place because she needed some companionship. Aw! Unfortunately, all she had found was some sick guys who only wanted to take her money. After the “couple” formed an online relationship, the con artist started to ask for cash (shocker) and tricked the victim into sending two checks — one for $10,000 and another for $90,000.
Who the hell has that kind of money just lying around?!
Dayum! Also, mind you, the whirlwind romance happened just a little over a month between September and October 2018, so why were you sending so much money off the bat?!
The catfisher reportedly told her he needed the dough to pay for “tour expenses” and to address the funds to a “friend of the band.” So freaking sus! At the time, the lady told investigators that the fake Bruno even promised to leave his scheduled shows for her once it was sent. As TMZ reports, legal documents showed that the checks, which she wrote two days apart, were made out to “Chi Autos.” This is just absolutely nuts!
As it turns out, the money went to Chinwendu Azuonwu, who was charged with third-degree felony money laundering this week after the $90K was found in his bank account. And he apparently wasn’t alone in the scam! According to KTRK, the man had an accomplice, Basil Amadi, who was also charged with money laundering.
WOW!
If anything, this should be a lesson to triple check who you’re connecting with on the internet. Be safe out there, Perezcious readers! Who knows, you might end up meeting a fake celeb out there looking to take your bucks. Hopefully, it’s not another Bruno Mars. We are pretty sure he does not condone this kind of evilness!
What do U think about this crazzzyyy story, guys? Do U think Bruno will respond to this at all? (We kind of hope so, TBH). Let us know your thoughts in the comments (below)!
[Image via Bruno Mars/Instagram]
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