An individual who is known as an influencer allegedly pretended to be a cancer patient and deceived an online acquaintance into giving him £30,000.
Authorities are on the lookout for Luís Felipe de Oliveira following a court’s decision to place him in pre-trial detention on March 4. The 23-year-old faces charges of engaging in online fraud. A civil court in Cotia, Brazil, has also directed him to compensate his victim, a local man, with 10,000 BRL (£1,432).
The influencer, operating under the name Felipe Heystee on social media and boasting millions of followers, is accused of masquerading as a 19-year-old female student with cancer on a dating app.
Over a period spanning from May 2022 to August 2024, he purportedly engaged in an online relationship with the victim, defrauding him of 207,000 BRL (£29,642). The victim, aged 46, believed he was romantically involved with a young female student named Luana, described as having blue eyes and long hair, who shared his interest in antiques. The funds he sent were supposedly for medical expenses, rent, and food deliveries for Luana.
Despite exchanging endearments like “love” and “sweetie,” the two never met in person or had a video call. The victim mentioned that the lack of face-to-face interaction made him suspicious, especially when most of the transfers were to accounts under Felipe’s name.
The scam started to unravel when the victim conducted a reverse-image search on a photo sent by Luana, revealing it belonged to a different girl who was also an influencer. Contacting the girl’s parents on social media confirmed that the photo was used without permission.
The compensation ordered by the civil court remains unpaid, and the criminal proceedings are pending. Authorities have frozen over 200,000 BRL (£28,640) in De Oliveira’s accounts to potentially reimburse the victim.
Prosecutors suspect that De Oliveira may have victimized others. Following the incident, the victim expressed his reluctance to pursue new relationships, stating, “It was my last try. I don’t want to get involved with anyone else. I’ll just stay an uncle for life.”