Overview
- TF1’s Grands Reportages profiled Marie-Paule, 82, who says she sent about €60,000 over roughly three years to online impostors.
- The primary contact posed as a Boston doctor named “Mickael/Michael Williams,” with another fraudster impersonating TV host Frédéric Lopez.
- She made frequent transfers and once mailed a €5,000 cheque after being told of a fabricated lung cancer diagnosis.
- Her son compared messages with posts from the real doctor and said the fraudulent account was geolocated to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
- Lopez recorded a message stating he never asked for money, which led her to acknowledge the scam, and she is now receiving psychological support.