How cruel scammers are posing as Olivia Newton-John to rip off unsuspecting victims - but one fought back with a sting of his own
- Nino Martinetti, 74, a award-winning cinematographer has worked on many films
- He posted a picture of him and Olivia Newton-John on the set of 'The Wilde Girls'
- Mr Martinetti was contacted by someone pretending to be the famous actress
- He was then scammed out of $13,000 under the promises of the pair meeting
Nino Martinetti, 74, is an award-winning cinematographer who posted an image to an Olivia Newton-John Facebook page of himself and the beloved actress on the set of 'The Wilde Girls' (pictured)
Scammers pretending to be Olivia Newton-John have tricked people into sending them up to $13,000 - but their scam fell apart after one victim tricked them into revealing their operation.
Nino Martinetti, 74, is an award-winning cinematographer who posted an image to an Olivia Newton-John Facebook page of himself and the beloved actress on the set of the film 'The Wilde Girls.'
He was messaged by a Facebook account with the name 'Dame Olivia' who claimed to be the real actress and after the pair started to talk, she told Mr Martinetti if he wanted to meet her, he would need to transfer money to her management team which could cover hotels and security.
Mr Martinetti agreed with the fake 'Dame Olivia's' demands and transferred $13,000 to two Melbourne bank accounts, but when he didn't receive any information about their meeting, he realised he had been scammed.
He decided to trick the scammers into providing a Melbourne address under the guise of transferring more money, which lead him to the home of 63-year-old Mary Busuttil.
He was messaged by 'Dame Olivia' who claimed to be the real actress and the pair started to message every day
Mr Martinetti said it was odd Newton-John would ask for his money when the pair started to talk to each other.
'If you want to have a coffee with Olivia, it cost $2,000 and if you want to go to a restaurant it costs $5,000,' Mr Martinetti told A Current Affair.
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'I was still thinking that I didn't want to be disrespectful to her and say, ''okay p*** off.'' Can you say ''p*** off'' to Olivia Newton-John? I don't think so.'
After he tricked the scammers into providing a Melbourne address, he contacted A Current Affair and asked them to help deliver the money with the hopes it would uncover who these people were.
After the money was left on the doorstep, Ms Busuttil walked out to collect it.
Dame Olivia told Mr Martinetti if he wanted to meet her, he would need to transfer money to her management team which could cover hotels and security
Mr Martinetti agreed with the fake Olivia's demands and transferred a total of $13,000 to two Melbourne bank accounts, but when he didn't receive any information about their meeting, he realised he had been scammed
Ms Busuttil initially said she had never heard of Mr Martinetti but changed her mind after she was given his bank statements which showed he had transferred money into her account.
She revealed she had been talking to a man online who claimed to be Sgt Major Samuel Spencer from the US Army.
Though Sgt Major Spencer is a real soldier, Ms Busuttil was actually talking to the same person who had scammed Mr Martinetti.
Ms Busuttil had been tricked into transferring her own money and Mr Martinetti's to the scam artists in the hopes of meeting her online lover.
She was told to take Mr Martinetti's money and deposit it into a Bitcoin account using an ATM.
'I put $4000, $2000, $1000… you can put as much as you like,' Ms Bussitil said.
Though Mr Martinetti will never get back his money, he said he felt sorry for the real Ms Newton-John as her identity was used to scam vulnerable people.
'The people that prey on other people based on trust and their feelings, to me they are the worst scam in the world,' he said.
He decided to trick the scammers into providing a Melbourne address under the guise of transferring more money, which lead him to the home of Mary Busuttil (pictured)
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