On April 29, on the show LE IENE, a report was aired that once again took stock of the situation of FAKE PROFILES that take advantage of unsuspecting people to take MONEY from them.
The report is hosted by Veronica Ruggeri and Piero Barone is involved in the scam!!
Even though with great regret, because these things MUST NOT happen, I firmly publish this video because we must disseminate these SCAMS as much as possible in order to alert as many people as possible!!!
Thanks to LE IENE for their excellent service!
MAN= She still believes that he is the real Piero Barone, he made her all kinds of promises.
AMALIA= I have definitely spoken to him, I am absolutely convinced.
VERONICA= This sweet lady is called Amalia, she is 78 years old and lives in Palermo (Sicily) and for 6 months she has been convinced that she is the girlfriend of Piero who is 31 years old and is a famous singer all over the world. (in the video: Piero singing Grande Amore)
Yes, Piero Barone from Il Volo.
AMALIA= You are the right woman for me (phrase that the fake Piero allegedly said to her).
MAN= “Auntie, look, Piero Barone is young, he has money and will NEVER ask for money”…….but we can’t convince her!
VERONICA= Mrs. Amalia is the victim of an emotional or romantic-sentimental scam as one might say, one of those scams that have become increasingly widespread in recent years, which first strike the HEART and then empty the WALLET.
Mrs. Amalia has been a widow for 9 years now and since she lost her beloved husband she has not had a partner in her life.
MAN= No, no, nothing, she has always been faithful, very faithful.
VERONICA= At a certain point what happens?
MAN= We saw that the aunt was posting videos of Piero Barone…..
VERONICA= Several videos, and not because she is just a fan, but because a FAKE profile that pretends to be Piero Barone, this one (the profile in the photo), hooked her up 6 months ago and since then she has been convinced she is messaging the famous singer every day.
In fact, listen to how she talks about him on the phone with a dear friend of hers:
AMALIA= “He’s so polite, he’s ashamed, I swear to you….”
MAN= He promised to take her to America to some of his concerts.
AMALIA= He takes me on tour with him.
MAN= And he makes her understand that a certain type of relationship can be established, even a sentimental one.
AMALIA= He wants to marry me one day.
AMALIA ‘S FRIEND (on the phone) = With all the women he has, does he prefer someone like you?”
AMALIA= Because girls are only looking for money, he told me.
MAN= He even suggested phone sex.
AMALIA= He wants to make love, he wants to have sex.
VERONICA= And when friends and family, who luckily Amalia immediately confided in, tried to open her eyes…..
MAN= Auntie, you see that it’s FALSE!!
VERONICA= She reacted like this:
MAN= No, it’s true!
AMALIA= I’m sure it’s him, 100%.
AMALIA’S FRIEND (on the phone) = Amalia, let’s not get our hopes up about all these things.
BE CAREFUL!!
AMALIA = At this point, I have nothing to lose.
VERONICA = Instead, she has lost, indeed! Because the person behind this FAKE profile is a professional scammer who did all this just to get money from her.
MAN = Her children saw these transfers and asked her: Mom, what are you doing?
And she: I’m making payments to Piero Barone because he wants to invite me to one of his concerts, I have to make payments because he has to give me the VIP CARD.
VERONICA = Obviously there is no VIP CARD, but Mrs. Amalia doesn’t know this and agrees to pay.
MAN= More than 2,000 euros (about 2,000 dollars) the last payments were made two days ago of 30 euros each…
VERONICA= For a lady who lives only on her pension.
MAN= She lives on her pension. Let’s say it’s a criminal organization.
VERONICA= A criminal organization that with only the smartphone and writing with the help of automatic translators, deceives and defrauds hundreds, thousands of people all over the world every day.
MAN= Even the tobacconist told her: “Madam, don’t make these payments, they’re fake.”
There was no reason, she goes to the tobacconist at 8:40 in the morning and it’s the first thought she has in the morning.
VERONICA= She’s really in love!
MAN= She’s in love.
VERONICA= And it’s no coincidence that the victims are often people who are a bit lonely.
MAN= She has our affection, maybe she misses what Piero Barone FALSE is making her relive, from when she was young.
VERONICA= But she just can’t go on like this.
MAN= The only attempt that can be made is to have her video call the real Piero Barone, because only he can dismantle this thing, no one else can do it. It’s the only hope.
VERONICA= First of all, let’s get some sweets for Amalia, also to make the revelation that awaits her less bitter in some way.
How these things make me nervous, to death.
(Veronica and the television crew enter Amalia’s house)
MAN= Auntie, let me introduce you to a friend of mine, her name is Veronica.
VERONICA= Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Veronica, I brought her some sweets.
AMALIA= There was no need!
VERONICA= Of course not, come on!
Amalia gets the tablecloth…..
I’ll help her then….
AMALIA= There’s no need, don’t worry.
Eh old age….
VERONICA= Old age? How old is she?
AMALIA= 7 – 8.
VERONICA= 78 years old, but still in great shape.
AMALIA= Well, anyway!
VERONICA= We explain to her that we are there because her family, a large and beautiful family, is a little worried about her.
Do you know why?
She immediately anticipates us:
AMALIA= Anyway, I blocked everything.
VERONICA= She claims to have already blocked the numbers of the FAKE Piero Barone, but only to make her children and grandchildren happy.
AMALIA= I am convinced that I definitely spoke to him, I am absolutely convinced of it.
VERONICA= Often children and grandchildren do not know how to help, because when a person is experiencing love, it is difficult to make them understand that this story can hurt them so much.
Were you in love?
AMALIA= Yes! I say it!
VERONICA= But this is beautiful.
AMALIA= I’m telling the truth.
VERONICA= What did this person here tell you?
AMALIA= That he loved me, that he wanted to take me to his country, he wanted to take me to Paris, he made me go with him to concerts and he made me go on stage.
VERONICA= Behind all these dreams there are constant requests for money.
When was the last time you gave him money?
AMALIA= Last week, maybe. Lately he wanted to make me a passport and so I had to pay for this passport.
VERONICA= But to go where?
AMALIA= To Paris.
VERONICA= To visit him during a concert?
AMALIA= No, no, with him.
VERONICA= The romantic getaway??
AMALIA= Yes, yes!
VERONICA= You liked the young man, huh?
AMALIA= Eh, yes!
VERONICA= You understood!!
Also because he told her:
AMALIA= “I want to marry an older woman because she gives me more love, you are the right woman for me!”
VERONICA= But fortunately Mrs. Amalia does have some doubts about this whole story.
AMALIA= Also because he made me so many promises but didn’t keep them.
VERONICA= What promises did he make you?
AMALIA= That he came here, he came to Palermo and he had to come to me. He didn’t come because he always wanted money.
VERONICA= But do you think Piero Barone needs our money??
AMALIA= No! In fact I even told him: “You send it to me!”
VERONICA= Good!! Good.
The attitude seems right to us and so the time has come.
Now I have a surprise for you!
Amalia has already understood everything and in fact laughs and worries about making a good impression.
AMALIA= If I had known, I would have put a nicer tablecloth! (laughter)
VERONICA= Everything is ready, all we have to do is call Piero Barone, the real one, the only one who can really convince Amalia once and for all to stop wasting time and money on those SCAMMERS. (The video call with Piero begins.)
PIERO= Veronica!?
VERONICA= Hello!
PIERO= How are you?
VERONICA= I’m very well, I’m here with a friend of mine, her name is Amalia.
PIERO= Hi Amalia! Nice to meet you.
AMALIA= Hi Piero, nice to meet you.
VERONICA= Amalia, since last October, has been writing to a person who says they are you, so since October she’s been convinced she’s in a relationship with you.
PIERO= Wow! So, I know about these things.
It’s something that unfortunately has been going around a lot lately, IT’S ONLY PEOPLE WHO PRETEND, WHO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OTHER PEOPLE’S KINDNESS, we don’t write to anyone on Instagram, we don’t contact anyone. Our job is something else, we just have to sing.
VERONICA= He told you that you were going to one of their concerts, and where?
AMALIA= Yes, of course, everywhere he went.
Where you went (she turns to Piero), I went with you.
PIERO= But madam, I have the other two (Gianluca and Ignazio) that I have to take with me, there’s no room on the plane (laughter).
But where are you from, madam, let me understand.
AMALIA= Palermo.
PIERO= Ah, she’s Sicilian like me.
AMALIA= Yes, yes.
PIERO= Now we know each other.
AMALIA= Indeed!
VERONICA= Piero, don’t give her any hope because I’ll come and get you!! (laughter)
PIERO= Let’s look on the bright side, Mrs. Amalia, we understood that it’s a scam, I hope you didn’t spend a lot of money, but I’ll take advantage of this to officially invite you and your family to one of our concerts.
VERONICA= For real this time, eh!
AMALIA= Look how many of us there are (the video shows all the relatives who are there listening – laughter)
RELATIVES= Hello!
PIERO= I take back what I said! (laughter).
VERONICA= Amalia seems to have taken it very well, but when we hang up, she gets a little emotional.
Does it make you want to cry?
AMALIA= Yes!
VERONICA= My love. (they hug each other)
AMALIA= Of course, I feel bad, because I hoped it was really him, never mind!
VERONICA= What did you like about him?
AMALIA= Everything! He spoke to me tenderly, very sweetly.
VERONICA= It’s right to look for it and want love.
AMALIA= I found it with my husband!
VERONICA= Exactly.
Loving again, dear Amalia, is possible indeed, even at 78 years old.
So if it happens to you again, if ALBANO writes to you, I’ll name you at random, first go to your nieces and ask if it’s the real ALBANO or the fake ALBANO?
We need to be careful about this.
Are you calm now?
AMALIA= Yes, of course.
VERONICA= Didn’t I hurt you by telling you this?
AMALIA= No, no. In fact, you helped me feel better.
VERONICA= How sweet! Can we eat now or have you lost your hunger?
AMALIA= While I was with him, I wasn’t hungry.
VERONICA= Weren’t you hungry?
AMALIA= I was stuck.
VERONICA = It was love, of course!
Also ACTA, Associazione Contro Truffe Affettive (Association Against Affective Fraud), and Lotta al Cybercrime, took an interest in the case, publishing the video from LE IENE, with this comment:
AMALIA at Le IENE: LOVE HAS NO AGE—> Amalia, a seventy-eight-year-old woman, has been believing for six months that she is the girlfriend of Il Volo singer Piero Barone.
Congratulations to Veronica Ruggeri who with empathy and simplicity makes Amalia understand that she has been yet another victim of an emotional scam by making her speak to the real Piero Barone. Veronica Ruggeri is an example to be imitated by those relatives of victims who act with arrogance, thus making the victim close up like a hedgehog. Amalia has been subjected to hypnotic manipulation and certainly does not need that arrogant and judgmental attitude that so many superficial people have.
This matter is really incredible, but unfortunately we know well that every day many people are enticed by these FAKE PROFILES who promise affection and kindness, to send MONEY.
Please be careful, none of Il Volo or their staff or their families need our MONEY, this is interesting for the FAKE PEOPLE who pass themselves off as them!!!!
Just before the Easter holidays, our editorial team received an email (another one unfortunately) from a kind fan who was scammed. We asked her if we could publish her email, here it is!!
April 13, 2025
TO: Il Volo Staff
I experienced this fake profile of Piero and his so-called manager. Both were asking me for money. One wanted iTunes cards. And the other one wanted $10,000 to meet with Piero, so he could stay with me for a month. Of course, in between his concerts. There were so many red flags. The only problem is, I did send iTunes cards.
The only time he’d get upset was when I said, no, I’m not sending you anymore cards. Otherwise, he would over-do the “I love yous “.
He sent many, many photos of Piero and some of his family and ones of his many cars, etc., those kind of things you can get right from the Internet, which he probably didn’t realize I knew. I was a fool but I learned my lesson. This all started when I sent a message on Instagram to Piero, expressing how much I loved the Trio. I was probably only on Instagram for a month. I never really followed Il Volo before. Then I got caught up in a fake. This all started around March 30 through March 31 and I just ended it on April 13, 2025. I told him I want my money back and I’m going to report him.
Piero even sent a video (or who I thought was him at the time) – it had his exact face and voice saying he would never hurt me or do anything to me, I love you. The face was Piero. But, It had to be AI (Artificial Intelligence).
Today, April 13, 2025, I received a voice message, and he said he loves me, and, I could immediately tell it definitely was not Piero. I could tell the difference. This man was trying to act like Piero!
He said my VIP card was in the mail but it never arrived.
He also sent me gifts of: a framed photo of Piero & I, a t-shirt with a picture of Piero & I, and a stuffed pink teddy bear. I received these items on the 12th of April. I did not go for that. I told him that the real Piero Barone would never have time for all this. Is there anything I can do to report this? Federal Trade Commission??
These people owe me approximately $6000-$7000 in iTunes cards, which I know I won’t get back.
Thank you for your time. I know this not Il Volo’s fault. I just wanted people to be aware. I am a widow and he took advantage of me.
Sincerely: Deborah.
Dear Deborah, we are all on your side, we are very sorry for what happened to you, luckily you realized the deception!!!
Thank you for sending this testimony of yours and for allowing us to publish it, I hope it can help to pay more attention to the trust that is often stolen by these shady individuals.
Be smart, open your eyes.
Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca do not answer any fans and above all they do not ask for money!!
There are no words for these despicable actions, the internet can be dangerous, so only trust serious and well-known sites or pages.
BEWARE of those who offer you private contact.
Trust is very important and should only be given to serious people.
A hug to all of you!!
Daniela 🤗
Credit to owners of all photos and videos.

















