Love scam busted

Why Sigi Fink is involuntarily famous in Canada

Sigi Fink's photos were used by a love swindler. As a result, the ORF weatherman achieved unintentional fame in Canada.(Bild: Thomas Ramstorfer / First Look / picturedesk.com)

Sigi Fink has now achieved involuntary "fame" in Canada. So-called love scammers stole photos of the ORF weatherman, which have now been reported on Canadian TV. 

"Crazy, now I'm even being reported on in Canada, but not as Sigi Fink", the ORF star expressed his horror on Instagram and also shared the post that had brought him unintentional fame. 

Love scammer used Fink's photos
The broadcaster CBC had reported on a so-called love scam, in which fraudsters target lonely hearts - and their money - on dating platforms or social media.

And this love scammer had chosen photos of Sigi Fink, of all people, for his fake profile. However, the man did not pretend to be Fink, of course, but Bobby Brown, an oil engineer from Sacramento, California. A fake ID was used to confirm his identity.

"Fake Fink" tracked down
But the Canadian CBC journalist, who was contacted via Instagram by the fake Sigi Fink, did not allow herself to be lured into the love trap. On the contrary: after weeks of research, she even managed to track down the love scammer in Nigeria and persuade him to give an interview.

The young man, who had been made unrecognizable, explained that he had been forced to do this love scam after his father lost his job. He was sorry that he had to do this, but because of the poverty in his country, he had "no other option".

Incidentally, Sigi Fink is not the only Austrian whose photo has already been used involuntarily for a love scam. Just last year, Norbert Hofer made a Tinder scam with his pictures public. "Hm, this Dorian Prieto from Tinder looks a bit like me ...", explained the FPÖ politician at the time with a screenshot of the fake profile on social media.