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Scammers posing as WWE superstar Alexa Bliss swindled a 79-year-old man out of almost $1 million in retirement savings, including his granddaughter’s college fund.
The man, who passed away last summer, is the subject of a New York Times series of articles “about sophisticated online scams targeting Americans, particularly older adults.”
Chris Mancinelli’s father Alfred was absolutely convinced that he was in a romantic relationship with now 33-year-old professional wrestler Alexa Bliss (real name: Alexis Cabrera).
“There was nothing we could do to convince him,” Chris told the Times.
For some reason, Alexa Bliss has repeatedly been used by imposters in money scams such as what happened to Mancinelli. So much so that Bliss herself has issued multiple warnings to her fans online.
Please stop talking to fake accts – I hate that ONCE AGAIN I have to say this… pic.twitter.com/sOp1VSzCG4
— Lexi (Kaufman) Cabrera (@AlexaBliss_WWE) December 21, 2022
— Lexi (Kaufman) Cabrera (@AlexaBliss_WWE) June 17, 2023
Despite the fact that the scammers posing as WWE star Alexa Bliss never communicated with Alfred via audio or video, he still refused to believe she wasn’t real.
His chat messages with the sham Alexa read like a soap opera. There were the battles with his son, whom he disowned, after Mr. Mancinelli tried to safeguard his money; other “evil” meddlers trying to spoil their relationship; and ongoing references to Vince McMahon, the former wrestling promoter, whom the fake Alexa accused of humiliating her after she refused his advances. But Alfred was always there, ready to extend emotional and financial support.
When Alfred got down to his final $100,000, his son Chris took it and put it in a different account.
Alfred sued him.
Rather than keep fighting him, Chris gave him his money back. It too was shortly gone.
In addition to being scammed by Alexa Bliss imposters, Chris says his dad’s Google account was connected to two devices with Nigerian I.P. addresses. He also had been previously scammed by someone calling themselves Kate who claimed to have a sick 4-year-old daughter, and another scammer going by the name Anna, who claimed to be helping a friend caring for unwell children.
By the time Alfred died, his relationship with his son had been irreparably fractured.
“He lost all his money, his family relationships and was constantly stressed through it trying to get more and more money for them,” said Chris.