Lito Sousa gets emotional in a video about the disease he faces — Photo: Reproduction
A 66-year-old farmer, resident of Araçatuba (SP), was the victim of fraud after making a transfer via Pix in the amount of R$1,000 for a false fundraising campaign using the name of influencer Lito Sousa, whose fight against Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease had national repercussions.
Scammers used the image of the aviation expert to ask for donations for supposed health treatment in the United States. The incident report was registered at the municipality's Judicial Police Center (CPJ) this Friday (4).
According to police records, the victim reported that, on August 27, he accessed Instagram and viewed a video with the image of Lito Souza. The content had an emotional appeal requesting financial help to cover medical expenses that would be incurred in the USA.
Araçatuba (SP) Judicial Police Center — Photo: Google Street View
Sensitized by the situation presented on the social network, the farmer wrote down the bank details provided in the post and transferred R$1,000. The receipt attached to the process shows that the amount was favored by a company called "C. Filadelfo Pereira Serviços", linked to the financial institution Cartwave IP.
Discovery of fraud
The victim informed the police that he only realized he had fallen for a scam shortly after making the transfer. He had access to another video, this time released by Lito Souza's wife, which warned followers that the fundraising campaign was fraudulent and that third parties were using her husband's image inappropriately to commit crimes.
After discovering the fraud, the declarant contacted his bank to register a complaint and dispute the transfer via Pix, in an attempt to recover the money sent.
The case was registered as embezzlement. The Araçatuba Civil Police must determine who committed the crime and investigate the bank account used to receive the amount.
Lito Sousa in a video published this Friday (4) — Photo: Reproduction
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In palliative care
According to her, Lito remains "normal, cognitive, speaking, thinking" after more than 20 days of hospitalization at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, in São Paulo.
Influencer Lito Sousa published this Friday (4) a new video in which he appears talking about aviation. In the recording, made days after being discharged from hospital, he also spoke about the progress of his treatment.
At the age of 59, the influencer was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare neurological condition caused by abnormal proteins called prions and which has no treatment capable of reversing its evolution.
What is known about the disease
Creutzfeldt-Jakob is a rare disease, caused by prions — proteins that, when taking an abnormal shape, multiply in the brain and destroy neurons.
According to neurologist José Bauab, these particles settle inside the neuron and progressively intoxicate it, in a destructive effect that is not restricted to the infected cell: the toxicity also compromises the glia, the tissue that supports the neurons.
The process leaves a pattern of small holes in the brain —hence the spongiform classification— and progresses without, to this day, any treatment capable of reversing or stopping its evolution.
The first signs are usually cognitive: memory failures, changes in behavior, tremors. As the disease progresses, the impairment spreads to different areas of the brain and also affects movements.
The disease mainly affects older people — the sporadic, most common form usually appears between the ages of 60 and 80.
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