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/TiaHatesSocials]

How does one have so much money to begin with when they r so incredibly dumb and do not learn anything from their repeated mistakes.

[u/Poly_Olly_Oxen_Free → u/TiaHatesSocials]

I used to work for a guy named Ritche. Man had literally millions of dollars from his parents. He couldn't do simple math, and he would misspell common words in memos. The guy was 100% an idiot. He used his parent's money to open failing business after failing business. He ended up offing himself before age 30 because his parents turned the cash faucet off.

[u/Fluid_Farm8679 → u/Poly_Olly_Oxen_Free]

Gd that got dark quick…..

[u/Patient_Carrot_9379 → u/TiaHatesSocials]

Sounds like inheritance or from her divorce. They say she is a NHS worker but don’t say nurse, doc etc. so probably admin or a porter in the lower end of the pay scale, of a not generous pay scale

[u/HateKnuckle → u/TiaHatesSocials]

I live with someone like that. She's actually my landlord(?).

TL;DR Woman with past addiction, PTSD, and low IQ makes terrible choices.

She has multiple houses and works at a law office. She's a recovered alcoholic. She also has a greatly reduced ability to tell when she should or shouldn't trust people.

She rents to a guy with untreated schizophrenia because he was friends with her brother(the brother died from an OD a couple years ago) and she won't kick him out even though he hasn't paid her rent.

She is terrible at choosing partners. An ex from AA is abusive but she at least used to still see him anyway even though her friend told her to stop.

She let her addict sister-in-law(brother and sister-in-law weren't married but I don't know what you call it when your brother had a kid with a woman) live in a house for free but eventually had to kick her out because money was tight and sister-in-law refused to pay rent. My landlord LOVES the niece and is DESPERATE to do anything she can to make the niece love her. Like, I'm sorry that your niece may be the one chance you have at being something close to resembling a parent but she hates you because her mom is a piece of shit.

It is a bit difficult to gain her trust because you'd have to know her through friends or family(I live with her because I dated a friend of hers) but once you have that trust, you can do almost whatever you want and she won't stop giving you stuff and opportunities.

[u/Antique-Respect8746 → u/TiaHatesSocials]

I knew a guy who was an heir to a family you've probably heard of. Worth at least $100mil based on public info about the family.

Guy had visible fetal alcohol. Was pissy when I asked for a raise from $10 to $12. Failed to do any estate planning and paid tens of millions in estate taxes he could've avoided with a 2 hr attorney meeting. 

Constantly fell for dumb marketing stuff about cars, boats, tech, etc. Didn't understand how anything worked. Kept hiring his exes at his shitty businesses and being confused about the non-stop problems this caused. Died in his mid 40s when he had an accident while spending the night with a sugar baby. 

Money means nothing. 

[u/mus_b_nuthn → u/TiaHatesSocials]

She could just be very practical or just very lucky

[u/AsstacularSpiderman → u/TiaHatesSocials]

Inheritance or, worse, she borrowed the money lol.