Swindling Con Man Attempts More Surf Fraud

The surfing con man has struck again. Or at least he attempted too. On Monday, December 15, a veteran North Shore photojournalist received an email from a person claiming to be Alec Cooke aka ‘Ace Cool,’ a big wave surfer best known for riding massive surf off of Kaena Point in the 1985.

The con man’s email followed the typical format: Weird circumstances leave the psuedo-surf star stranded. The psuedo-surf star requests money be sent. He promises to pay the sum back (see the email below). What the swindling surfing con man failed to realize is that the recipient of this particular email is a friend of Mr. Cooke.

Is this a case of copy cat crime, or is this the same scam artist who attempted to extract money from La Jolla’s Derek Dunfee last month posing as Nathan Fletcher? It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that others have caught on to the successful ways of the con man and are attempting their own fraud.

According to a SURFING Magazine story, the con man(s) has also used the following surf personalities in an attempt to swindle money: Christian and Greyson Fletcher, Brad Gerlach, Dino and Kolohe Andino, Chris Malloy, Adam Wickwire and John-John Florence. What is of particular interest in the latest incident is that Ace Cool is not necessarily an A-list surf personality. Nevertheless the con man was savvy enough to send his request to a person that definitely knew Ace.

It seems as if the con man may be changing his game plan, targeting older surfers as victims and using less common or older surf stars as his fake identity. Perhaps the younger demographic has caught on to his act, and so now the con is going older?

If somebody claiming to be Jeff Hakman or Buzzy Kerbox or some other elder surf statesman sends you an email requesting money, it is NOT who it appears! Be wary, and spread the word!

——being scam email—–

Hi,

Sorry I didn’t inform you about my traveling to UK for a program, am presently in London i am stranded here because i lost my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money,and other valuable things were kept.I will like you to assist me with a soft loan urgently with the sum of 1,200 GB Pounds to sort-out my hotel bills and get myself back home. I will appreciate whatever you can afford, I’ll pay you back as soon as i return, Please send the money to me through Western Union money transfer by the details below.

Alec M Cooke

Address, 199 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4RY

After making the payment kindly back to me with payment receipt details needed to collect the money here.

Regards,

Ace