Scammer pretending to be Journey’s Steve Perry defrauds woman of thousands

A scammer claiming to be Journey frontman Steve Perry defrauded a 75-year-old woman out of thousands of dollars.

The Westlake Police Department said someone went to the station around 2 p.m. on June 27 to report being a victim of a scam, according to our news partners at WOIO.

Police told WOIO the woman replied to a Facebook message from someone claiming to be Perry in January 2024.

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The scammer told her he had a business opportunity for investment and of course “needed a woman in his life.”

The woman sent thousands of dollars to the scammer who continued to message her through texts and WhatsApp throughout the next several months,

She realized she was being defrauded after the imposter became more demanding, urging her to send photos of passports and driver’s permits.

Investigators are working to find the suspect accused of running the account and encouraged the woman to report the scam to her bank and IC3.gov.