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TV


AARON AZIZ DRAGGED INTO LOVE SCAM; HIS PHOTOS USED TO CON PORTUGAL WOMAN OF
MONEY


Aaron Aziz's wife Diyana Halik (left) received two hate e-mails from the same
sender telling her to "let Aaron go". PHOTO: AARON AZIZ/FACEBOOK
Jeanmarie Tan Senior Correspondent
Apr 25, 2022 11:28 am
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Aaron Aziz has become the latest local celebrity to have his social media images
and videos misused in a love scam.

Ms Flavia Pinto, a 40-year-old unemployed single mum of two from Portugal,
e-mailed The Straits Times last week, alleging she was cheated of €600 (S$880)
by the married Malaysia-based Singaporean actor.

She says she started conversing with a man named "Aaron" on March 16, and they
communicated over WhatsApp messages and three video calls using the chat
translator. She was also sent photos of Aaron Aziz.

The man told her he lives in Russia and his mobile phone number starts with the
country code for Russia. He claimed he was separated from his wife and had two
children who were going to study in London.

He also said he loved her and promised to move to Portugal to marry her and live
with her at the end of April. She fell hard for him during their one-month
online romance.



The man then told Ms Pinto he sent a package containing "very important papers"
to Portugal as he wanted to open a business there. He requested that she help
him pay a logistics company for it to be released, and she transferred €600.

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When she unsuccessfully asked "Aaron" for repayment and threatened to call the
police on April 11, he blocked her the next day.

When she trawled the Internet searching for him, she stumbled upon Aaron Aziz
and recognised him from the pictures she received and became convinced the
latter duped her.

Ms Pinto says: "This story is very confusing for me, too, and I don't know what
to think anymore. I am a poor, humble and honest person; I have my children who
need to eat. I just want my money back, nothing else."

When contacted about the allegations, Aaron, 46, denied any involvement.

He says this is the most extreme example of someone using a fake profile of him
to commit fraud, and he will be making a police report.

The pictures Ms Pinto received were ripped from his old Instagram posts as well
as screenshots from his live videos from two years ago.

He tells The Straits Times: "Of course I feel angry and upset, but I'm not
surprised this kind of thing is happening.

"Yet, I don't know how it's even possible that I did video calls with her. It's
scary obviously, but there's nothing we can do about it. It's the new norm."

The pictures Ms Pinto received were from his old Instagram posts and screenshots
from his live videos from two years ago. PHOTOS: FLAVIA PINTO

It was previously reported that local singer-composer Dick Lee had
been approached by about 10 women claiming they fell victim - or nearly did - to
online love scams in which his pictures were used.

Actors Romeo Tan and Desmond Tan also found themselves embroiled in similar
scams.

Aaron is no stranger to other fraudulent stunts in Malaysia.

He has warned his 3.3 million Instagram followers of scammers who misuse his
live-video footage to sell products or publicise giveaways and schemes unrelated
to him.

However, Aaron says that, at the end of the day, "the individual must be smart
enough to analyse and don't act so quickly".

He adds that artistes in Singapore and Malaysia are more accessible these days
because of social media and it is easy to verify claims directly with them.

"If anyone out there gets a request from a celebrity asking for money, all they
need to do is direct-message them and ask if it's true."

Aaron's wife Diyana Halik, 40, also feels a police report is necessary.

In the past week, she received two hate e-mails from the same sender telling her
to "let Aaron go", and experienced "anxiety" over it.

It was the first time in 19 years of marriage that she has been targeted.

Around the same time, Aaron's Wikipedia page was tampered with, with the word
"fake" added to his occupation and his wife's name changed to "Anna Lydia".

Ms Diyana says: "It's like one thing after another. We just feel attacked."



She adds: "It's crazy because if (Ms Pinto) is telling the truth, then it's
really unfortunate and I pity her.

"But if she's not, then this is another example of someone trying to get to us
directly and create trouble.

"Lastly, I am worried because this sounds like an overseas hacking and at a
totally different level. It's like you are being watched by people outside
Malaysia and they are building a storyline by scrolling through photos and
videos from years ago to cheat others."

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