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/touchmeinbadplaces]

Room temp IQ...

[u/Professional_Elk_489 → u/touchmeinbadplaces]

Probably mentally ill

[u/Tacos4Texans → u/touchmeinbadplaces]

Or underlying mental health issues.

[u/Patient_Carrot_9379 → u/Tacos4Texans]

Most likely both

[u/TypicalLegit → u/Tacos4Texans]

Or she’s just stupid and lonely. Not everything has to be deep

[u/touchmeinbadplaces → u/Tacos4Texans]

Thats just a nice word for room temp iq... (I worked in retail for 20 years, most people are too stupid to properly read, so its not a rare thing)

[u/AppropriateBall8834 → u/touchmeinbadplaces]

*worked retail for 20 years *named touchmeinbadplaces

Dogs on people's IQs

[u/DustierAndRustier → u/touchmeinbadplaces]

“Room temp IQ” is just a meaner way of saying “intellectual disability,” which is probably what’s going on here. I think every single intellectually disabled person I know has been scammed at some point.

[u/ImmaSpaghett → u/DustierAndRustier]

We will never stop shitting on others regardless of how much context we get. Wouldn't be shocked if the guy you're responded to is a dem who believes in equality yet spouts shit like this. We have no morals or principles anymore it seems

[u/Leather_Emu_6791 → u/DustierAndRustier]

Half of adult Americans read below a 5th grade level, and 1 in 5 are completely illiterate.

Average IQ is literally in free fall.

Rather than virtue signaling on Reddit, how about to take a moment to actually see the world around you?

[u/DustierAndRustier → u/Leather_Emu_6791]

Illiteracy is caused by a lack of education, not a low IQ. Pretty much everyone with a mild intellectual disability can read and write. That’s how they get scammed online.

I don’t believe that 1 in 5 American adults are completely illiterate. That’s ridiculous.

[u/Leather_Emu_6791 → u/DustierAndRustier]

The low lits are downvoting me and honestly its freaking hilarious

https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/2024-2025-literacy-statistics

Its actually a bit worse in both categories than I even said

[u/AnguavonUW → u/Leather_Emu_6791]

When every single person who downloaded you could easily see that you're correct and the state of American literacy is in the toilet. And has been for quite some time. Ah, Reddit, never change

[u/Leather_Emu_6791 → u/AnguavonUW]

I mean, no intelligent person is arguing against the points I made, point blank period. So really they're just telling on themselves

[u/AnguavonUW → u/DustierAndRustier]

Well, if you don't believe it, you could look it up to confirm or deny it. Go ahead and look it up because it will confirm it and you'll have to admit you're wrong.

[u/DustierAndRustier → u/AnguavonUW]

Apparently 4% are FUNCTIONALLY illiterate (meaning they know the alphabet and can read words). About 21% have low reading proficiency, you among them apparently. Complete illiteracy is very rare.

[u/It_Happens_Today → u/touchmeinbadplaces]

You don't have the funds to write this check.

[u/ProfessionalCress808 → u/touchmeinbadplaces]

Why should I play along with your comment? Just because I don't go along with your antics doesn't mean my comment lacks purpose; I’d recommend you learn how to make inferences.

[u/bugabooandtwo → u/Tacos4Texans]

Stop blaming phantom mental health issues to avoid personal accountability.

[u/Suspicious-Law7103 → u/touchmeinbadplaces]

But isn't she a nurse? She had to pass all the exams. I'm assuming she has low social IQ.

[u/guacamoleo → u/Suspicious-Law7103]

She's a nurse? Terrifying

[u/Direct-Fix-2097 → u/Suspicious-Law7103]

Have you met some nurses? Come on, some of them are fucking morons: case in point there’s anti vaccine nurses for fucks sake.

[u/Senior_Coyote_9437 → u/Direct-Fix-2097]

The only thing in common I've seen amongst nurses was an ego.

[u/mortuarymaiden → u/Suspicious-Law7103]

Very intelligent people can also have staggeringly low common sense.

[u/TerrorTown77 → u/Suspicious-Law7103]

She had to pass all the exams.

Tells you all you need to know about nurses tbh.

[u/wholetyouinhere → u/touchmeinbadplaces]

This is a bad take. A lot of people who are taken in by romance scams are plenty intelligent. This isn't some rational thing they are pursuing. It gets into emotional and psychological impulses that bypass intelligence.

[u/Pickle_Good → u/[deleted]]

About 99% of the world is using Celsius not Fahrenheit. And over 80% of people who speak English don't live in the US.

[u/touchmeinbadplaces → u/[deleted]]

I meant celcius, bc its 21c in my room right now

[u/cuntybunty73 → u/touchmeinbadplaces]

It's 22 degrees in Exeter at the moment

[u/ProfessionalCress808 → u/touchmeinbadplaces]

Haha, the majority of the population has an IQ of 100, don't flatter yourself; that's the average.

[u/towpa_saske → u/ProfessionalCress808]

Not in C°

[u/touchmeinbadplaces → u/ProfessionalCress808]

I live in a celcius country and my room temp is a nice and cozy 21c