Easy Targets

Some scam outfit called Constantino Tour sent out invites for a luxury vacation in Antalya to about twenty influencers, and they actually went. One blogger named Anna IX took the bait with her friend Natalie Osada. They flew out of Düsseldorf one evening and landed in Antalya. At the airport exit, three women were waiting with a sign displaying the company’s name. One asked for their passports—supposedly to speed up the hotel check-in. Anna handed hers over without a second thought and they got in the van.

The drive didn’t take long before things fell apart. The place they pulled up to wasn’t any resort. It was a run-down property out in the middle of nowhere, and when they went inside the staff had no bookings. No record of them at all. Anna called the police. Someone called the consulate. They tried reaching the travel agency. Except Constantino Tour didn’t actually exist. It was all a front.

The real target was the passports. A European passport on the black market goes for around ten thousand euros. Twenty influencers meant twenty passports.

They ended up paying for their own hotel rooms and flying back the next evening, out a significant amount of money and not a lesson learned among them. But here’s what gets me: some criminal figured out that you can con twenty narcissists with a phone camera way more reliably than running the traditional schemes anymore. The elderly got smart. They ask questions now, demand proof. Influencers though? Totally defenseless. No thought required. Just promise something shiny and they’re yours.