Cape Coral woman scammed by fake Matt Rife fan club

CAPE CORAL, Fla. —

Rhonda Clark from Cape Coral was scammed out of nearly $7,000 by a fake Matt Rife fan club she joined on Facebook.

"I clicked on the Matt Rife Fan Club button. Very simple. Joined. And then I got a message in Messenger welcoming me to the fan club," Clark said.

The messages started with basic questions but quickly turned personal. "Good morning, love. How was your sleep last night?" Clark said. The scammer tugged on Clark's heartstrings not just with words but with a voice made to sound like the comedian himself.

Clark said the scammer would send her videos that looked and sounded just like Matt Rife, with mannerisms she had seen online. Once a connection started, the scammer got Clark to download a private messaging app called Zangi. "Then he would want money to support the phone call because it's a subscription," Clark said.

Over two weeks, the connection grew stronger. "It was one of the worst things I've ever went through in my life. Just because. You're hooked. And then there's the letdown that you know that you've been scammed," Clark said. She never gave out her banking information but handed over almost $7,000 in gift cards.

"I just never thought it would get me. You know. I thought I knew all the warning signs and red flags and everything," Clark said.

Cybersecurity expert Evan Lutz provided advice on how to protect oneself while scrolling online.

"If somebody tells you something that is too good to be true, it probably is," Lutz said. He noted that gift cards are a major red flag. "No legitimate human being in modern society asks you to give them a gift card over the internet," Lutz said.

Lutz also emphasized the importance of being able to spot fake videos, as AI technology keeps improving, making scams involving videos of celebrities more believable.

"The quality is getting harder and harder to detect every single day. I think we're going to see this problem get a whole lot worse before it gets better, if it ever does," Lutz said.

The Cape Coral Police Department confirmed that this is an active investigation.

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