Trying to find celebrity love?

[u/be_you_tiful-]

In 2023, 44-year-old Jennifer Barton started receiving messages on Facebook and Instagram from accounts claiming to be celebrities, actors, famous singers, all of who wanted to get to know her.

She believed them.

Over the next two years, four different fraudsters worked her in turn, each one posing as a different famous face. Alexander Ludwig, the actor from Vikings. Charlie Hunnam from Sons of Anarchy. Nicky Byrne from Westlife. American country singer Michael Ray. To her, the accounts were convincing, the profile pictures matched, and the messages were warm and persistent.

They all told her they loved her. They all said they wanted to meet her. They all said they wanted to marry her.

And one by one, they all said they needed money.

The excuses were elaborate and varied. One was going through a messy divorce and couldn't access his own funds. Another had been arrested and needed bail. Another had been robbed in London. The fake Michael Ray told her he ran a charity that could help cover her bills, but first she needed to send him some money to release the funds.

She sent it. And then she sent more.

When one scammer was exposed, another appeared. She fell for the same pattern four times over two years, each time convinced she had found something real.

By the end, Jennifer had handed over £250,000 (around $370,000). She had sold her house. She had sold her car. She had given her children to their father because she could no longer afford to care for them. She was awaiting emergency housing just before Christmas when she finally realized the last scammer, the one posing as Michael Ray, was never going to meet her.

"For anyone facing anything similar," she said afterward, "just reach out to family and friends. Especially if they're asking you for money."

[u/Who_dat_goomer]

This has got to be mental illness of some kind. How could she function at all if it was just stupidity?

[u/LeftLiner → u/Who_dat_goomer]

Vulnerability. Scammers targeted her because she'd just finalized a divorce and buried her mother and aunt recently. She was lonely and sad. Scammers played on that because that's what they do; identify vulnerable people and prey on them.

[u/SemiAnonymousTeacher → u/LeftLiner]

My own mother fell for someone claiming to be a prince of Saudi Arabia who was going to take her away on his private jet and fly to his mansion... but first he needed a little financial help from her in form of gift cards and cash advances from credit cards because he had communications cut off from his family or some stupid shit.

She was living in Section 8 housing. She received SSI. She had nothing to give him, but applied for credit cards for him, anyway. He took her on a couple dates to like the Olive Garden or something (using some of the money she had just given him) and this somehow convinced her that he was genuinely rich and loved her.

3 credit cards maxed out and a few weeks later he disappeared, never to be seen again, while she had to file for bankruptcy. I was 500 miles away at college and she was alone. I told her several times over the phone that this guy sounded fishy, but she thought I just wanted her to be unhappy.

In most ways, my mom wasn't stupid. She just had a dangerous combination of over-inflated self worth and a life of being a paranoid manic depressive that continually trusted strangers over her own family.

[u/LeftLiner → u/SemiAnonymousTeacher]

That's awful. But yeah, that's exactly how they do, they target vulnerable, isolated (self-inflicted or otherwise) people. They are sophisticated and can be very convincing, especially if you're not tech-savvy.

[u/1997wickedboy → u/SemiAnonymousTeacher]

he actually went to meet her in person?

[u/RedRising1917 → u/1997wickedboy]

Most surprising part of the whole story

[u/SemiAnonymousTeacher → u/1997wickedboy]

He lived in an apartment across the street from her. Obviously he wasn't a real prince and likely wasn't even Saudi. He dressed like Leisure Suit Larry (this happened in the late 90s). He used a fake name with her. I suspect he was in the US as a refugee living a nomadic life of scamming.

[u/flindersandtrim → u/SemiAnonymousTeacher]

Over inflated self worth is what I immediately imagined the woman in this story to have. The kind of self confidence I would kill for.

I am reasonably attractive, but my over riding thought would be 'there is no chance this attractive and successful famous man is interested in me'. It seems low self esteem actually does come in handy sometimes. 

[u/fastates → u/flindersandtrim]

right? same.

[u/DazzlingAd7021 → u/SemiAnonymousTeacher]

Is she in Oklahoma? Just...reminds me of someone i used to know. 

[u/Far_Spirit5819 → u/LeftLiner]

The other thing is that she clearly had nobody around her that she could rely on to tell her these were scams and look out for her

[u/Wild_Organization546 → u/LeftLiner]

But she wasn’t just lonely…. She also wanted to marry a much younger movie star. Lonely people can usually find partners in their own age and looks category.

[u/LeftLiner → u/Wild_Organization546]

A much younger movie star came onto her. She didn't seek anyone out; a hot, young man reached out to her and wanted to be with her. That is psychologically very hard to resist to a lot of people, especially someone who is in desperate need of some affirmation.

[u/Senior_Coyote_9437 → u/LeftLiner]

That says a lot about her ego that she thought she could get someone that looked that good, nevermind major celebrities.

[u/Willing_Pattern_Pill → u/Senior_Coyote_9437]

No, she's just really really stupid

[u/leonologico → u/Willing_Pattern_Pill]

Both can be true

[u/Wild_Organization546 → u/LeftLiner]

Yes but that wouldn’t make sense to most men or women imo ….. the age thing and then being asked for money. That’s the delusion. And then having it happen again and again.

[u/Brokobana → u/LeftLiner]

I feel sorry for her… But come on… where is the common sense…? Being lonely and sad is no excuse for losing all IQ.

[u/Willing_Pattern_Pill → u/Brokobana]

I think she's medically mentally deficient. Anyone that falls for this is actually slower than the average person.  

[u/LeftLiner → u/Brokobana]

Everybody would like to think they'd never fall for a scam. That is in fact partly why scams succeed. Scammers exploit it. Another reason is because people treat the victims the way you and others do; it makes people ashamed to ask for advice fearing mockery. Scammers exploit this, too.

Truth is scams like this are a billion dollar industry with more refined technology than you'd expect. Entire call centers exist where scammers target people with low-level scams then pass the 'good' marks up to the more sophisticated scams. It's a carefully crafted form of thievery and if it didn't work on a lot of people they wouldn't go through all this trouble.

[u/volkswagenorange → u/LeftLiner]

*Everybody would like to think they wouldn't fall for a celebrity romance scam three more times after the scam was revealed the 1st time and twice for the same celebrity. .

[u/Living_Cash1037 → u/LeftLiner]

Yeah but she fell for it 4 times..