Mel B has told of feeling “violated” after fraudsters used her charity reputation to target pals on WhatsApp.
The former Spice Girl called in police after messages were sent using her name, trying to lure her family and friends – including other celebrities – into a cryptocurrency scam.
Mel, 47, was horrified when a string of A-list contacts began messaging her about a “charity project” they believed she was working on.
They had been sent messages which appeared to be from Mel’s account, encouraging them to make donations to a new project to “help African children dying of thirst”.
It asked them to make their donations on the controversial cryptocurrency platform Binance – and even promised the chance to buy Bitcoin at a special low rate in return for their support.
A source close to the star told the Sunday People: “Mel knew nothing of it and called in police straight away. She feels really violated and angry that someone would do this and claim it’s for charity reasons when she does so much charity work herself.
“The messages were written as if from her, using kisses and emojis so they were believable.”
The messages – sent from the contact name “Scary Spice MelB” followed by a champagne cork emoji – asked people to donate via Binance, a site for exchanging digital currencies that operate outside of traditional banks.
The firm was the target of a hack last week which put £500million of investors’ cash at risk.
Our source added: “It was the cryptocurrency element that sparked suspicion among some of her celeb pals, who contacted her asking if it was her.
“Mel isn’t involved in any of that. It’s not her scene. But she does a lot of charity work, which was what made the con believable.”
It is not known if any of Mel’s contacts handed over money.
The singer has had battles before over use of her identity online, including on social media ads for weight loss pills.
Mel was given an MBE this year for her campaigning on domestic violence.
The source added: “Mel does a lot of work for causes close to her heart so it’s doubly upsetting that a fraudster would play on that to try to scam her friends.”
A spokesman for Meta, which owns WhatsApp, said: “WhatsApp protects our users’ personal messages with end-to-end encryption, but we want to remind people that we all have a role to play in keeping our accounts safe by remaining vigilant to the threat of scammers.
"We advise all users never to share their six-digit PIN code with others, not even friends or family, and recommend that all users set up two-step verification for added security.
"If you receive a suspicious message (even if you think you know who it’s from), calling or requesting a voice note is the fastest and simplest way to check someone is who they say they are. A friend in need is a friend worth calling.”
