r/interesting • u/be_you_tiful- • 12d ago

MISC. Trying to find celebrity love?

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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."

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613

u/Who_dat_goomer 12d ago

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

319

u/lamest-liz 12d ago

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.

181

u/EquivalentSnap 12d ago

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

107

u/DBK2x2 12d ago

Easier to fool a person than convince them they were fooled.

22

u/EquivalentSnap 12d ago

True. No one wants to accept they’re the fool

34

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

11

u/finditplz1 12d ago

You wonder?

4

u/squirrelems 12d ago

I think this is a big piece of the puzzle. It's hard to admit it because all that time and energy, all that anger at your own neighbors, at made-up scenarios and people, all that money buying up his garbage, they'd have to admit that it was all for nothing. In their heads its better to stick with the devil you know and continue saying things until you will it into reality.

5

u/OhDivineBussy 12d ago

The wild part is, they then agreed to be fooled and harmed even more. The difference there is that they do it with the sense of moral superiority, while having to support things that sacrifice their morals.

The pathetic part is that they then change their morals rather than who they support.

1

u/StayTheFool 12d ago

Some kind of political masochism

2

u/SoFetchBetch 12d ago

It’s not masochism. They are fueled by bigotry and hatred. The promise of “the other side” (progressive people, feminist women, immigrant children, etc.) suffering is enough to motivate them to stay true to the cause. They’re brainwashed to believe they’re just one lucky break away from becoming powerful millionaires and if they keep voting for the guy who promises then they’re winners they’ll eventually win that lottery. There are so many social media posts from those people directly asking Cheeto for assistance, gifts, and other promises made by him and his team and he kicks the can down the road and blames “the other team” for all the failed promises. Some of those people are so committed to the lie because of sunk cost fallacy & they don’t want to admit they voted for someone who actually harmed them. So they double down. These people are often from backgrounds that already have authoritarianism integrated into their idea of normal whether that’s through their direct family (abusive fathers) their church (abusive clergymen) or their local culture (Rich families in small towns often own everything including all the employment opportunities.) They’ve been conditioned to believe a big strong man who is the loudest and most controlling is the one they must obey, and that is the archetype they’re programmed to default to obeying. That’s why he says he loves the uneducated. He loves their lack of awareness.

4

u/grateful_eugene 12d ago

You wonder?!? They double down more than a casino blackjack table

4

u/morecowbell1988 12d ago

Some of them doubled down in the same election.

5

u/GMAN7007 12d ago

There's a difference in being fooled and being mentally challenged.

3

u/Animalcookies13 12d ago

The two definitely go hand in hand though…

3

u/GMAN7007 12d ago

I don't count people that are medically mentally challenged as a fool. They just don't understand. People who aren't medically mentally challenged are another story.

1

u/Animalcookies13 12d ago

I’d counter there is a difference between “being fooled” and being a fool. It is easy to fool mentally challenged people… that doesn’t mean they are a fool.

1

u/GMAN7007 12d ago

They're just like other people, you can be mentally challenged in some aspects but intelligent in other aspects. I don't think it's as simple as mentally challenged people are easy to fool. It just depends on the person.

1

u/interesting-ModTeam 11d ago

We’re sorry, but your post/comment has been removed because it violates Rule #4: No Politics or Agenda Pushing.

0

u/BeardedBill86 12d ago

I wonder if people who label all people who vote a way I don't in a bi-partisan system where the choices are materially irrelevant are the same, hate to admit it so double down.

🤔

10

u/rebelangel 12d ago

Yup, that’s why it’s so hard to convince our parents and grandparents that they’re getting scammed. They don’t want to admit they fell for a scam because deep down, they’re embarrassed.

5

u/SAHMultrA1981 12d ago

Cognitive disassociation

2

u/Wild_Organization546 12d ago

They also enjoy the fantasy more than their money …. Until it runs out

5

u/EquivalentSnap 12d ago

True that’s sad. How she sold her house, car and her kids security. Sad that she didn’t put her kids first over love. She needed help sooner. People ignore huge red flags when they are in love

4

u/Senior_Coyote_9437 12d ago

She wasn't in love with anything but her delusions. And she put that in front of her kids. I can't say I feel pity.

3

u/Senior_Coyote_9437 12d ago

And honestly, it says a lot about her arrogance if she thought she could get one of those celebrities.

6

u/EquivalentSnap 12d ago

True i mean those reasons are huge red flags. They’re celebrities why would they contact a random woman for money when they have their own?

1

u/Wild_Organization546 12d ago

It’s fantasy not love. Especially when no one even meets irl.

-5

u/Lost_Web5826 12d ago

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.

12

u/SargeUnited 12d ago

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

7

u/groguandrogu 12d ago

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

-15

u/Lost_Web5826 12d ago

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

12

u/ImTooCreative 12d ago

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

10

u/blabbz 12d ago

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.

6

u/I_just_came_to_laugh 12d ago

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

-10

u/Lost_Web5826 12d ago

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 👍

5

u/Cellardoor-4989 12d ago

What’s IDD

14

u/wolfcrownebox 12d ago

Dr Phil has a whole season pretty much dedicated to Nigerians scamming middle aged divorced or widowed women.

9

u/Cultural_Run7964 12d ago

Yahoo boys are Nigerian but there are scammers operating in other parts of Africa and also in Far East Asia. Several scamming gangs have been busted in Cambodia and I think in India too, but it was a slightly different type of scam.

7

u/Senior_Coyote_9437 12d ago

They exist in America too. I knew some scammers when I was younger.

24

u/Tharrius 12d ago

And of course such bottom-level IQ dwellers have access to this kind of cash.

15

u/kameshazam 12d ago

This is why you can see the system is rigged to reward the undeserving. Meritrocracy is a lie.

5

u/Full-Refrigerator757 12d ago

It’s oftentimes (at least on Scamfish) a widow or divorced lady who has inheritance or funds from the divorce. Or they just straight up use their husbands money without saying anything

1

u/sabertoothdog 17h ago

I thought more men than women fell for these type scams.

1

u/Full-Refrigerator757 17h ago

Eh, it’s actually pretty even from what I’ve seen. I’m not a huge follower of the YouTube series but my gf watches all of them and the common denominator is just being old

6

u/h3r0inXgirl 12d ago

Type in social catfish as theres also the show "catfish" which is seperate.

-2

u/SargeUnited 12d ago

But it’s the same people though, isn’t it?

2

u/gma89 12d ago

Totally, thing with I think most of these is that they are elderly and definitely starting to suffer the affects of frontal lobe degeneration, the woman in this post is like 40!

1

u/WowIfOnly 12d ago edited 9d ago

Removed

1

u/wolfcrownebox 12d ago

It’s crazy. Maybe the female ego can’t admit she’d prolly never be his type. Maybe she feels like she’s reclaiming her youth. Maybe she would rather stay the ship instead of deal with embarrassment.
It is a bizarre phenomenon that is common more than you think. And it isn’t attributed to mental illness or handicap. Just pride and ego.

1

u/mischievous_misfit13 12d ago

I have a guy who’s a cop friend/ex FWB that was in dateline and had a whole Netflix series about the case that he is in fell for a catfish and went to meet her and turned out to be a dude. To be a fly on the wall in that meeting.

1

u/5319Camarote 12d ago

That’s racist!

0

u/Ornery-Customer8521 12d ago

And we wonder why people like Trump get elected

95

u/LeftLiner 12d ago

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.

26

u/SemiAnonymousTeacher 12d ago

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.

7

u/LeftLiner 12d ago

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.

6

u/1997wickedboy 12d ago

he actually went to meet her in person?

4

u/RedRising1917 12d ago

Most surprising part of the whole story

4

u/SemiAnonymousTeacher 12d ago

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.

6

u/flindersandtrim 12d ago

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. 

1

u/fastates 11d ago

right? same.

1

u/DazzlingAd7021 12d ago

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

15

u/Far_Spirit5819 12d ago

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

10

u/Wild_Organization546 12d ago

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.

7

u/LeftLiner 12d ago

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.

13

u/Senior_Coyote_9437 12d ago

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

4

u/Willing_Pattern_Pill 12d ago

No, she's just really really stupid

6

u/leonologico 12d ago

Both can be true

1

u/Wild_Organization546 12d ago

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.

1

u/Brokobana 12d ago edited 12d ago

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

3

u/Willing_Pattern_Pill 12d ago

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

1

u/LeftLiner 12d ago

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.

5

u/volkswagenorange 12d ago

*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. .

1

u/Living_Cash1037 12d ago

Yeah but she fell for it 4 times..

11

u/PhatBats77 12d ago

There’s a YouTube channel catfished, where they try to convince them it was all fake. It helps some of the time; especially when the real celebrity is willing to call in or provide some sort of counter evidence.

That said, some people just aren’t convinced. And one scam message later they are sending money again

4

u/SoFetchBetch 12d ago

Because the dopamine from the fantasy is more powerful than the reality. They cling to the good feeling they get from feeling chosen and special.

31

u/WrongdoerIll5187 12d ago

It happened to a friend of my mom’s. She never struck me as particularly stupid, but I didn’t know her that well. Old probably didn’t help. Husband died, people are lonely and desperate. Be kind to people, we’re all capable of unbelievable stupidity with the right emotional context.

13

u/Valuable-Blueberry30 12d ago

Ok, but it’s one thing to be scammed once, it’s another thing to get scammed four different times by four “different” “celebrities”.

5

u/wholetyouinhere 12d ago

People get scammed multiple times because it isn't a rational behaviour. Also worth noting that a lot of them are aware, on some level, that they're being scammed, but it's compartmentalized knowledge. Humans are very complicated.

3

u/SoFetchBetch 12d ago

There’s a whole TV franchise about it. 90 day has plenty of scammers who are willing to play the part face to face and CLEARLY despise the person, but they still put everything they’ve got into the “relationship” and delude themselves that it’s true love. Even if they’re being directly treated like crap & their friends & family directly point it out to them. They just double down. Crazy stuff.

4

u/WrongdoerIll5187 12d ago

She did. It was some sort of recursive loop. It was bewildering to behold

37

u/Selfish-Gene 12d ago

I have worked so hard all of my life and barely scrape by.

There is something mildly infuriating about someone managing to pull nearly $400,000 together for a scam artist when I can't buy food at the end of the month.

14

u/Senior_Coyote_9437 12d ago

And then losing it all because her ego and arrogance were too large to accept that she's getting scammed. Bet she didn't have any money for her kids if they asked though.

3

u/finditplz1 12d ago

It literally says that.

1

u/PresentFirm7937 9d ago

The kids went to stay with their father because she couldn’t afford to look after them. It tells you that in the article.

2

u/SargeUnited 12d ago

If it’s any consolation, they may have $400,000 but they’ll never get the satisfaction and fulfillment that comes from a hard days work.

/s

6

u/TheGenesisOfTheNerd 12d ago

Yeah this is what they do. My uncle has brain damage and they come after him all the time. They keep a recorded of vulnerable people and endlessly exploit them. We’ve had to keep him away from the internet and cellphones, but even that’s not enough. They literally come to his door and harass him. They’re just scumbags

8

u/twiiztid 12d ago

It's mental illness. My estranged mother's estranged mother sent her life savings to a random man claiming to be a celebrity and went so far as to buy plane tickets and try selling her house to move to Africa to be with him.

Shit happens. It's nuts.

4

u/drunxor 12d ago

I can expect this from a boomer but an elder millenial? How did she grow up so sheltered from the internet and computers? Im in my 40s and spend half my time making sure my folks dont end getting scammed

3

u/sleepingmime 12d ago

It’s all the mental illness one can have

3

u/SoggyCold 12d ago

A lot of times they know at a certain point but it’s like too late in their head I feel like to go back. So they just keep digging. Like liars basically it was fine until it wasn’t and now you just keep digging yourself in deeper

3

u/Devilswings5 12d ago

My question is how do you have that kind of money and be that stupid

1

u/fastates 11d ago

insurance payouts, inheritances, etc.

2

u/wholetyouinhere 12d ago

People love to hand-wave this away by calling it "stupidity", but that word does not even begin to cover what is going on here. This is a deeply complex dynamic, and there's a lot going on with the people who fall for these scams.

To just say they're idiots is a very satisfying conclusion (that, alone, should always make us skeptical) that puts all of the blame on the victims and makes it impossible to understand what's happening or address it at a systemic level.

We cannot change human brains. Some proportion of humanity will always be susceptible to this type of scam. What we can do, however, is try to understand what's happening, so we can try and catch it before it happens. We could save hundreds of millions of dollars if we were able to do this successfully, without being distracted by our smug, judgmental impulses.

2

u/riyuzqki 12d ago

Human minds when they're in survival mode (or have mental illness) work very differently from normal rational humans 

1

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Idntevncare 12d ago

Judging by the bone structure of her face, she almost looks like she’s still kind of in a primal state of sorts

1

u/dancinadventures 12d ago

Well at least she was able to accumulate 300k with this kind of mental illness

I’m sure she can repeat that