2025年7月18日・20日(発生)/同年7月22日(現地紙報道)、実業家になりすまし、フィンガーフードと携帯電話チャージをだまし取るJuly 18 and 20, 2025 (incidents); reported July 22, 2025 — Fraudster Impersonates a Well-Known Businessman to Scam Finger Food and Phone Credit

In Antigua and Barbuda, someone impersonating a well-known businessman by phone targeted local shops and residents in a scam, according to the local outlet Antigua News Room, which reported the case on July 22, 2025.

On July 18, 2025, a caller identifying himself as the businessman phoned Epicurean Fine Foods and Pharmacy, asking staff to top up mobile phone numbers worth a combined EC$1,350 and to prepare an order of finger food platters, promising to settle the full bill upon pickup. A kitchen supervisor covered the phone top-ups with her own money. The caller never came to collect the order or pay.

Two days later, on July 20, the same suspect is believed to have approached a resident of Clarke's Hill with an identical pitch, requesting top-ups for five phone numbers along with a food order. The outlet reported at least EC$2,350 in documented losses across the two incidents.

Comments beneath the article claim the impersonated businessman was the late Atkinson Beazer, a former Barbuda senator who died suddenly at age 65 in April 2025 — but this detail comes only from reader comments, not from the reporting itself, and remains unconfirmed. Police have urged businesses to verify any unusual request involving advance payment.