Woman Says She Was Scammed Out of Almost $125K By Steve Perry Imposter

(RepublicanView.org) – An Ohio woman claimed she was scammed out of $125,000 by a fraudster posing as Journey singer Steve Perry. The 74-year-old Westlake resident told police she had begun exchanging Facebook messages with a man claiming to be Perry in January. The imposter allegedly told her he had access to lucrative business opportunities, prompting her to send $72,000 to “various personas” in “various states.” The unnamed woman said she also handed over an additional $50,000 but became suspicious when the fraudster increased his demands and insisted she send him copies of her identification documents.

The alleged fraud victim eventually reported the matter to the police, who urged her to file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Known as IC3, the Internet Crime Complaint Center describes itself as the “nation’s central hub for reporting cyber crime” and released a report on the national situation in April. The report notes 880,418 complaints in 2023, the highest on record. The amount of money scammed reached an astronomical $12.5 billion – a 22% increase on the previous year.

The most common form of cyber fraud is phishing, the FBI notes. This involves scammers sending unsolicited emails or text messages requesting personal and financial information. Phishing accounted for 34% of FBI complaints in 2023.

Additional statistics reveal that personal data breach is the second most common form of cyber fraud. The National Association of Attorneys General defines a data breach as the unlawful and unauthorized acquisition of personal data that compromises the security and confidentiality of that information.

In third place is non-delivery of items or non-payment. This occurs when individuals “sell” products on online marketplaces but fail to deliver the item. There were more than 50,000 such cases in the US last year. Other types of cybercrimes include extortion, fake investments, identity theft, romance and relationship fraud, and false employment opportunities. The Federal Trade Commission warns of a growing trend of fake job offers, which are used to obtain confidential information from hopeful applicants.