A woman who was catfished by a scammer pretending to be Gary Barlow met the singer - after he saw her story and reached out to help.
Janet Smith, 62, believed she was talking to the Take That singer for about a week, after she added him as a friend on Facebook.
But after the catfish bombarded her with compliments and told her he had "split up" she grew suspicious - and convinced the scammer to reveal their true identity.
The cheat said he was actually a 24-year-old man from Nigeria and was sorry for lying to her - but told Janet he really did love her and asked for cash.
The real Gary Barlow heard about what happened - and invited her to Take That's show Carrow Road gig in Norwich last night (28).
And before the gig he met Janet - who gifted him a a box of Milk Tray "for the boys".
Janet Smith, 62, believed she was talking to the Take That singer for about a week, after she added him as a friend on Facebook.
But after the catfish bombarded her with compliments and told her he had "split up" she grew suspicious - and convinced the scammer to reveal their true identity.
The cheat said he was actually a 24-year-old man from Nigeria and was sorry for lying to her - but told Janet he really did love her and asked for cash.
The real Gary Barlow heard about what happened - and invited her to Take That's show Carrow Road gig in Norwich last night (28).
And before the gig he met Janet - who gifted him a a box of Milk Tray "for the boys".
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FunTranscript
00:00 I started talking to this chap who I thought was Gary Barlow, first of all, because I went
00:06 on Facebook and his name come up, so I added him. But first of all, I did think it might
00:12 have been him. There was a picture, but he didn't have many friends on there. But he
00:17 started saying things and I kept saying to him, "Are you Gary Barlow? Are you Gary Barlow?"
00:21 He said, "Yes, I am. And if you think I'm not, then stop texting." But I carried on
00:28 and he was saying that, "I've got rehearsals now. I'll text you later. I believe in God.
00:35 My marriage has broke up. I've got a lot of music. I'm a very busy person." And then
00:41 he would come back on and all I kept questioning is, "Are you sure you're not Gary Barlow?"
00:46 And then I think it was one evening, 9 o'clock at night, he was texting me till about 3 in
00:51 the morning and I said to him, "I want the truth now. I don't think you're Gary Barlow."
00:56 And he kept saying, "I am." I said, "Can I have your WhatsApp number?" So I said, "Can
00:59 I have my WhatsApp number if you tell me who you are?" Because he kept saying he had a
01:04 secret but he wouldn't tell me the secret because he had to learn to trust me. And the
01:08 secret was he wasn't Gary Barlow. He'd come from Nigeria. He was living there. He was
01:15 poor. He had no money. He had to study and he couldn't feed his family. So he said to
01:20 me, "I've done fraud." So I could see his point but it's wrong what he's done because
01:28 he intimidated Gary Barlow and how many people are going to be vulnerable. A bit like me,
01:33 I'm very, very vulnerable and I haven't sent him money but I have felt guilty because he's
01:38 poor. He asked me to download something, what would cost for a card, download, and they'd
01:45 tell me how much it'd be so I can go and see him and I can go and see his concerts. But
01:50 I didn't do it. I said, "No, I haven't got the money." I'm a little bit nervous now because
01:55 he's made a profile of me and will go on his phone when the phone rings. He's constantly
02:01 ringing me all the time and he told me that he loves me and if I'm happy, he's happy and
02:06 he's never met anybody so kind. But I'm a little bit nervous now because he's a little
02:12 bit stalking and I don't know what to do. And I want to tell other people, "Please don't
02:17 add anybody. They're not the real people. They're trying to scam people." And I don't
02:23 want to cry because I'm getting a bit upset now but I can see people when they're poor
02:27 why they're doing that but I'm worried what would happen to old people who would probably
02:35 be conned out of a lot of money.
02:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]