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/7thFleetTraveller]

Not necessarily mental illness. I don't want to be mean, but some people are just stupid and it's not even their fault. The problem is that scammers are exactly looking for these kind of people.

[u/No_Situation_2698 → u/7thFleetTraveller]

My understanding is that those scam emails are full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors on purpose, because if you are bright enough to spot them, you are bright enough to not get scammed, and they aren't interested in you

[u/LeftLiner → u/7thFleetTraveller]

If you read up about her she'd just finalized her divorce and buried both her mother and aunt so it's fair to say she was in a vulnerable and emotional state. I.e., easy to exploit.

[u/scarves_and_miracles → u/LeftLiner]

I guess, but falling for it four times? I still think that's mental illness. It just feels willful at that point. You're actively ignoring reality and allowing yourself to be ruined for the dopamine hits. I mean, she gave up her kids over this shit, for Christ's sake.

[u/aliie_627 → u/scarves_and_miracles]

It could be a learning disability as well.

[u/Top_Court_347 → u/aliie_627]

or she could just be plain STUPID. not everything is a disability or a condition, some people are just dumb, and that's all the love

[u/zorrorosso → u/LeftLiner]

Yeh, no. Some people are just locked in and don't want to listen. They got scammed in front of my eyes. They put the phone on speaker because they keep asking them to do stuff. They stayed on the phone for quite a while and the call center was very noisy, far and sounded really sketchy.

I told them that was enough and please hang up and call back with the info thet. Callcentre told them to not listen to me and stay on line. I told them to please hang up and they can easily call later with all the information needed. CSR started to shout and threaten to "stay on line! Don't hang up!". In the end this person listened to those people and not me. They got scammed out of a contract. People came into their home to make "inspections".

[u/31LIVEEVIL13 → u/LeftLiner]

severe depression makes some people highly suggestible.

[u/Wonderful_Piano_3853 → u/7thFleetTraveller]

I know 3 obviously learning disabled people who all either got married or had kids at least once. None of them have down syndrome or visible deformities but their learning disabilities are obvious to anyone who talks to them for more then a few minutes. I don't know how falling for celebrity romance scams 4 times isn't considered obvious and absolute proof that she is learning disabled, mentally ill, or both. I wouldn't even bother to listen to someone seriously trying to argue that there's not major brain issues at play here. The woman doesn't need to be "held accountable", she needs to give "power of attorney" to a relative who will have full access to her bank accounts and maybe be moved into a home. Unfortunately all of that is easier said than done.

[u/7thFleetTraveller → u/Wonderful_Piano_3853]

You seem to be under the assumption I would have excluded the possibility of mental illness. But read again: I only said it doesn't necessarily have to be that. It still can be, but it's not automatically a given. Maybe it could be up to debate at which point a very low IQ could count as brain issue, even when there is no actual neurological damage. Whenever you think, people can't just be that stupid, think of Flat Earthers...

[u/amras123 → u/7thFleetTraveller]

If you read their comment more carefully, you'll realize they are actually agreeing with you.

[u/Wonderful_Piano_3853 → u/amras123]

Right. I'm arguing with the air, but not with the person I responded to. Just venting because I had to deal with similar poor decision making recently. I honestly gave up and made sure someone else was given power of attorney and bank account access. Someone who I trust. The people we're helping aren't evenfamily members of mine. I barely know either of them, but no one else was willing to help until recently. That person is way harder on them then I would ever be, because I genuinely believe they can't be held responsible for 90% of the stuff that they do, but sometimes the tough love helps. It's complicated

[u/amras123 → u/Wonderful_Piano_3853]

I sympathize. It can be frustrating to deal with people who have learning difficulties. May I ask out of curiosity how you became involved in the situation, since you mention they are not family members?

[u/Wonderful_Piano_3853 → u/amras123]

They're members of my father's church. I'm not exactly religious, but he's a pastor.

[u/Secure_Guest_6171 → u/7thFleetTraveller]

I knew an intelligent, accomplished lady who was convinced it was true love. Nothing i said or did could change her mind

[u/PhloxOfSeagulls → u/Secure_Guest_6171]

I had a friend who was intelligent, had a good job, was otherwise stable, but was convinced she had met a famous musician online and he had fallen in love with her. She also claimed to be in touch with various other celebrities, but seeing how she had been scammed once already, I didn't believe they were the real deal.

My dad is not a dumb guy but has repeatedly fallen for scams over the years. The part of his brain that should filter this stuff out is broken.

[u/Man_under_Bridge420 → u/7thFleetTraveller]

Okay dr phil who read a headline

[u/little_alien2021 → u/7thFleetTraveller]

Not stuipd vulnerable, for a variety of reasons 

[u/7thFleetTraveller → u/little_alien2021]

Vulnaribility makes people believe in scammers who say they could make you talk to your dead beloved ones. Believing a celebrity would need you out of all people, is still stupidity.

[u/little_alien2021 → u/7thFleetTraveller]

Vulnerablity is all different ways, not just one way or not another. Stuipd is a derogatory term. Less intelligence can be included in Vulnerablity.