Pensioner Scammed Out of £7,500 by Fake Romance

A lonely Brazilian pensioner has lost £7,500 after spending more than a year believing she was in an online romance with British singer .

The alleged scam happened in Sao Joao da Boa Vista, in the interior of Sao Paulo state in south-eastern , and only unravelled last week when the 57-year-old discovered the real James Blunt was actually touring Europe.

The victim said she first came into contact with the fake profile after commenting during a live broadcast by the real singer.

Not long afterwards, she received a private message from an account claiming to be the star behind the hit song You're Beautiful.

The pensioner said the conversations quickly became constant and intense, with the pair exchanging messages throughout the day and night.

According to the victim, the scammer sent her photos and videos of the singer generated using to convince her the relationship was real.

She said she was especially vulnerable at the time after losing close family members.

The victim explained: 'I wasn't expecting him to contact me.. I had lost my mother, lost my brother, and I was very lonely.'

She said the fake singer told her he was separated from his wife, living in a hotel in London and wanted to travel to Brazil to meet her.

The scammer allegedly claimed he had fallen out with his manager, who had blocked his accounts and left him without money.

She recalled: 'He told me he had argued with his manager and that they had frozen his account. He said he didn't even have money to buy food.'

Believing she was helping the singer she loved, the woman began transferring money to him and even took out bank loans.

She said: 'He told me, "If you can get me R$3,000 (£450) I'll find the rest and come to Brazil. I want to break my contract because my manager controls everything and I don't want him treating you badly."'

The pensioner eventually borrowed R$3,000 from her bank to send to the scammer.

But the requests for money continued after the supposed singer claimed he had arrived in Brazil.

According to the victim, the fake James Blunt said his luggage had been stolen at Sao Paulo airport while he was eating.

The scammer later asked for another R$900 (£135) for a taxi journey from Sao Paulo to São João da Boa Vista.

The woman said he repeatedly claimed he had been robbed again, was stranded in Brazil and was sleeping in petrol stations and bus terminals while asking her for more money.

Doubts only began to emerge when the fake singer claimed he was waiting to meet her in Campinas, more than 120 kilometres away.

The victim travelled to the city's bus terminal believing she would finally meet him face to face.

She said: 'When I arrived at the bus terminal, he stopped replying.'

After checking online for information about the singer's schedule, she discovered the real James Blunt was touring Europe at the time and had never travelled to Brazil.

The pensioner then blocked the scammer and filed a police report for fraud, although she said he still attempts to contact her through other apps.

She said she had suffered a loss of around R$50,000 (around £7,500) in total.

Speaking about the emotional impact of the ordeal, the victim admitted the experience had devastated her confidence.

The victim said: 'You can't imagine how much I suffered because of this. I suffered a lot from 2024 until last week. Who doesn't fall in love, right?'

She added: 'It feels like my self-esteem is gone. It feels like he left me feeling low, without wanting to do anything.'