{"id":8642,"date":"2020-08-26T15:55:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T22:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/blog\/?p=8642"},"modified":"2026-01-21T14:54:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T22:54:25","slug":"romance-scammers-steal-1-4-million-using-stolen-influencers-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.socialcatfish.cloud\/scamfish\/romance-scammers-steal-1-4-million-using-stolen-influencers-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Romance Scammers Steal $1.4 Million Using Stolen Influencer’s Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alessandro Cinquini is a well known social media influencer on Instagram<\/a>. He’s known for his posts about traveling across the world while working for Carnival Cruise Lines as a first officer. Even though he’s known for his amazing photography of different destinations around the globe, that’s not all he’s known for. He gets thousands of messages a year from women claiming they were scammed by romance scammers who stole his pictures.<\/p>\n[aesop_video src=”youtube” id=”M9rawnj5PTc” width=”100%” align=”center” disable_for_mobile=”off” loop=”off” controls=”on” mute=”off” autoplay=”off” viewstart=”off” viewend=”off” show_subtitles=”off” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

These Victims Flood Cinquini’s Inbox with Messages<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Vintage-correspondance-754636-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Cinquini receives 5-10 messages a day from women who have been scammed by people using his images<\/a>. These scammers are estimated to be making around $1.4 million by creating fake social media profiles with Cinquini’s images, creating a fake life, having many women fall for them, and asking for money countless times until their bank accounts are drained. A lot of these messages would read that they need help since they have been talking to a fake Cinquini for months.<\/p>\n

“I have never actually talked to a girl for longer than five months in my whole life, besides my mom and a few friends I have,” Cinquini stated as he let out a chuckle.<\/p>\n

One of the crazier stories Cinquini shared with us was when a lady decided to message him accusing him of being one of the romance scammers. The lady told him he needed to tell the other girls that he was a scammer<\/a>. Cinquini told her that there was nothing that he could do since he wasn’t a scammer and they were the ones stealing his photos.<\/p>\n

Even though he has had some crazy messages from victims, he prefers that they message or email him about the scammers so that he knows about each account. He tries to respond to the victims when he can to let them know what he thinks about the incident and to try and help them.<\/p>\n

When Did Cinquini Start Noticing These Fake Accounts?<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Hacker-in-black-hoodie-401502-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Scammers started noticing Cinquini when he was starting out on social media and had 10,000 followers on his Instagram<\/a> page. They would screenshot his photos and use them as profile pictures on their fake accounts, luring women in with his fit physique.<\/p>\n

In the past 3-4 months, Cinquini has stated that he’s seen around 10 new accounts created per day. \u00a0He’s tried to report these fake accounts<\/a> but has had no luck since more new accounts continue to appear rapidly.<\/p>\n

Scammers Report Cinquini’s Official Instagram Account for Supposedly Being “Fake”<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-26-at-3.18.38-PM.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”@alex_theofficer is Cinquini’s only official Instagram account.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

There has been a time where scammers have tried to report Cinquini’s account for being “fake” so that they can hide the evidence of his official account from their victims. Scam Haters United, an organization founded in England to help victims rid of romance scams<\/a>, was able to help him recover his Instagram account when it was suspended for a few days.<\/p>\n

“If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have my Instagram<\/a> account anymore, and the scammers would take advantage of me,” Cinquini stated when interviewed about the incident.<\/p>\n

Why Cinquini Thinks He is an Easier Target for Scammers<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-26-at-3.02.37-PM.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Cinquini thinks he was an easier target for scammers since it’s very easy for them to create stories around a guy in a uniform. He has also stated that scammers have used his gym photos when trying to lure in their victims so that they would be more attracted to the fake profiles and would want to get to know the scammers more.<\/p>\n

Each scammer has a different story made up using Cinquini’s photos, but most of them are related to him supposedly being in the military<\/a> and drafted overseas in Iraq. This is because scammers like to increase how much sympathy they get from their victims which allows them to gain their trust faster. They also have an excuse for their victims as to why they can’t see them in person or video chat with them, allowing them to get away with using fake photos.<\/p>\n

Romance Scammers Give Victims False Promises for Free Money and Cruises<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Big-cruise-ship-486772-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

People have also contacted Carnival Cruise Lines, demanding free money and cruises that Cinquini supposedly promised them. Even though Carnival has received many of these phone calls, it currently has not impacted his job since they know about the scam profiles. However, if something major happened with Cinquini’s name at Carnival it could impact his work visa that he is using to work there.<\/p>\n

Cinquini’s Advice to You on How to Avoid Romance Scammers<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-26-at-3.22.13-PM.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

When asked about advice to give to our audience, he wants to let people know to trust their gut feelings when something doesn’t seem right. If a scammer tells you information that doesn’t make sense or doesn’t sound right, question it before believing in it right away.<\/p>\n

“I would like people to be a bit more reserved in giving their information to others,” Cinquini states, “You can help by sharing this and making\u00a0Social Catfish<\/a> more known by people. These stories are real. Catfishing<\/a> is something exists for real. You might be the next victim, the next target, so always double-check your actions on social media before giving someone money.”<\/p>\n

Social Catfish is Here to Help You Avoid Romance Scammers<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/3283248F-3999-40D8-9482-3020F015F001.jpeg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

If you have a similar story to Cinquini’s or have been scammed by a romance scammer, we would love to hear from you! You can submit your stories to ShareMyStory@socialcatfish.com<\/a> for a chance to be featured on our YouTube channel<\/a> and blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you feel like you’ve been scammed by someone who has stolen Cinquini’s or someone else’s photos, Social Catfish<\/a> is here to help you! You can reverse search<\/a> any name, email address, phone number, social media username, or image to see who you’ve really been in contact with.<\/p>\n

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