A woman in the Greek city of Patras was tricked into sending €100 to a scammer who used artificial intelligence to impersonate soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo during a video call.
The woman, identified as Nikolitsa, was contacted through social media by a person claiming to be the Portuguese soccer star. The scammer told her he wanted to provide her with financial assistance as part of a charitable initiative.
To make the story appear credible, the scammer used artificial intelligence during the video call. A face resembling Ronaldo appeared on the screen, with the figure sitting inside a luxury white car.
What particularly convinced the woman was that the supposed Ronaldo was speaking Greek.
The €100 request
After establishing contact, the scammer asked Nikolitsa to transfer €100 through IRIS, a digital payment service used in Greece. He claimed the payment was necessary for the financial assistance to go ahead.
The woman sent the money in two €50 installments.
Immediately after the transactions were completed, the supposed Ronaldo disappeared and stopped responding to her messages.
It was then that the woman realized she had fallen victim to an online scam.
