A lonely Brazilian pensioner has lost £7,500 after believing she was in a year-long relationship with British singer James Blunt, only to discover the romance was a sophisticated scam involving artificial intelligence.
The alleged fraud took place in Sao Joao da Boa Vista, in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, and unraveled last week when the 57-year-old victim learned that the real James Blunt was touring Europe. The woman, who has not been named, first encountered the fake profile after commenting during a live broadcast by the real singer.
Shortly 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 artificial intelligence to convince her the relationship was genuine.
The woman explained that she was especially vulnerable at the time after losing close family members. '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. '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,' she recalled.
Believing she was helping the singer she loved, the woman began transferring money and even took out bank loans. 'He told me: "If you can get me 3,000 Brazilian reals (£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 borrowed the money from her bank to send to the scammer.
Requests for money continued after the supposed singer claimed he had arrived in Brazil. The fake James Blunt said his luggage had been stolen at Sao Paulo airport while he was eating, and later asked for another 900 reals (£135) for a taxi journey from Sao Paulo to Sao Joao da Boa Vista. He repeatedly claimed he had been robbed again, was stranded in Brazil, and was sleeping in petrol stations and bus terminals while asking for more money.
Doubts emerged when the fake singer claimed he was waiting to meet her in Campinas, more than 70 miles away. The victim travelled to the city's bus terminal, but he stopped replying. After checking online, she discovered the real James Blunt was touring Europe and had never travelled to Brazil. The pensioner then blocked the scammer and filed a police report for fraud, although he still attempts to contact her through other apps.
The woman suffered a loss of around 50,000 reals (£7,500) in total. Speaking about the emotional impact, she 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? It feels like my self-esteem is gone. It feels like he left me feeling low, without wanting to do anything.'
