(NewsNation) — A Kentucky woman was catfished by a scammer posing as a popular “Stanger Things” actor, losing over $10,000.
McKayla, an obsessed “Stanger Things” fan, fell into an online relationship with a scammer pretending to be “well-known actor” Dacre Montgomery, who played Billy Hargrove in the show. The scammer influenced her to divorce her husband and tricked her into sending over $10,000 worth of gift cards, the New York Post reported.
Although she was skeptical of the user from the beginning, McKayla said the user started doing things that made her believe that they were who they said they were.
“Me and him just really hit it off,” McKayla told Catfished.
While they never met in person, the single mother and film artist told “Catfished” that “Montgomery” complained to her often about his relationship issues, claiming in the messages that his girlfriend controlled all of his financial accounts.
That’s one thing we actually bonded over, and basically through the relationship he was venting to me after a few months about his partner saying she’s very controlling of him, he doesn’t get to do the things he wants to do, she’s always there, (she’s) always got to supervise,” McKayla said.
It wasn’t until a year later that McKayla was asked to be the scammer’s girlfriend, despite never meeting in person, the New York Times report said.
McKayla became suspicious after the scammer sent her a fake check for $5,500 and asked her to cash it and then send the money back to him, The Daily Mail reported.
Investigators then helped her uncover the truth that she was, indeed, being scammed.