69-year-old Wisconsin man loses $1,000 to AI-enhanced romance scam via Facebook fan group

Summary

A man from West Bend, Wisconsin, became a victim of a celebrity romance scam in which a scammer impersonated Nancy Wilson of the band HEART. His wife, Estrelieta Zirbes, discovered the scam after noticing unusual credit card transactions and found that her husband had sent money to the scammer and expressed deep emotional attachment to someone he had never met in person. Zirbes believes her husband joined a Nancy Wilson fan group on Facebook, which may have led to his targeting. The scammer used AI-enhanced "deep fake" videos and sent hundreds of messages, including requests for money for implausible reasons like docking a jet at West Bend Airport. Zirbes reported the scam to the West Bend Police Department, who noted the difficulty in tracking such international digital scams. The husband may have lost up to $1,000, and Zirbes fears the emotional and financial toll is straining their 19-year marriage.