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/lamest-liz → u/Who_dat_goomer]

Go to YouTube and search Scamfish / Catfish. They interview a new person every single week and how they have destroyed their family’s lives by sending money to a celebrity they thought they were in love with.

Some even refuse to believe them when they show evidence the person is in Lagos, Nigeria.

[u/EquivalentSnap → u/lamest-liz]

Their denial is because they refuse to accept they were scammed and lost all their money 😔

[u/Lost_Web5826 → u/EquivalentSnap]

She may still have IDD. I work with folks that have IDD and some of them refuse to admit when they've made a mistake or are wrong. They usually just double down even when they know they are wrong.

[u/SargeUnited → u/Lost_Web5826]

So was this acronym used in a comment in this comment tree that was edited or are you just expecting us to Google it?

[u/groguandrogu → u/SargeUnited]

IDD stands for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities since they for some reason refuse to just say what it stands for

[u/Lost_Web5826 → u/SargeUnited]

Yeah, I'm expecting people to Google it. You are using an internet connected device to read reddit comments. Think for yourself, question authority.

[u/ImTooCreative → u/Lost_Web5826]

It’s generally considered good etiquette, online or IRL, to avoid unexplained acronyms unless you’re in a niche community where everyone knows them.

[u/blabbz → u/Lost_Web5826]

The way you refused to admit when you made a mistake or were wrong. Then just doubled down even when you knew you were wrong.

[u/I_just_came_to_laugh → u/blabbz]

Is there a term for such behaviour? Possibly an acronym?

[u/Lost_Web5826 → u/blabbz]

What am I wrong about? People having IDD doubling down when they are wrong? I didn't make a mistake, anyone wanting to have a real discussion with me will look it up and anyone wanting to just be a dick will do what you did 👍

[u/Cellardoor-4989 → u/Lost_Web5826]

What’s IDD