"I was CATFISHED by fake Gary Barlow - he said he loved me and begged for money"
Credit: SWNS
A woman has told how she was catfished by a man pretending to be Gary Barlow - but turned out to be a scammer after money.
Janet Smith, 62, genuinely believed she was talking to the Take That singer for about a week, after she added him as a friend on Facebook.
The fake Gary bombarded her with compliments and messages and said he had "split up".
But she grew suspicious and eventually convinced the scammer to reveal their true identity.
A woman has told how she was catfished by a man pretending to be Gary Barlow - but turned out to be a scammer after money.
Janet Smith, 62, genuinely believed she was talking to the Take That singer for about a week, after she added him as a friend on Facebook.
The fake Gary bombarded her with compliments and messages and said he had "split up".
But she grew suspicious and eventually convinced the scammer to reveal their true identity.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 I started talking to this chap who I thought was Gary Barlow, first of all,
00:04 because I went on Facebook and his name come up, so I added him.
00:08 But first of all, I did think it might have been him.
00:12 There was a picture, but he didn't have many friends on there.
00:15 But he started saying things and I kept saying to him,
00:18 "Are you Gary Barlow? Are you Gary Barlow?"
00:20 He said, "Yes, I am, and if you think I'm not, then stop texting."
00:25 But I carried on and he was saying that, "I've got rehearsals now, I'll text you later.
00:31 I believe in God, my marriage has broke up.
00:34 I've got a lot of music, I'm a very busy person."
00:38 And then he would come back on and all I kept questioning is,
00:40 "Are you sure you're not Gary Barlow?"
00:43 And then, I think it was one evening, nine o'clock at night,
00:47 he was texting me till about three in the morning.
00:49 And I said to him, "I want the truth now. I don't think you're Gary Barlow."
00:52 And he kept saying, "I am." He said, "Can I have your WhatsApp number?"
00:56 So I said, "Can I have my WhatsApp number? Tell me who you are."
01:00 Because he kept saying he had a secret, but he wouldn't tell me the secret
01:03 because he had to learn to trust me.
01:05 And the secret was, he wasn't Gary Barlow.
01:09 He'd come from Nigeria, he was living there, he was poor.
01:12 He had no money, he had to study and he couldn't feed his family.
01:16 So he said to me, "I've done fraud."
01:19 So I could see his point, but it's wrong what he's done
01:24 because he intimidated Gary Barlow.
01:27 And how many people are going to be vulnerable?
01:30 A bit like me, I'm very, very vulnerable and I haven't sent him money,
01:33 but I have felt guilty because he's poor.
01:35 He asked me to download something, what would cost for a card, download.
01:41 And they tell me how much it'd be so I can go and see him.
01:44 And I can go and see his concerts.
01:46 But I didn't do it, I said, "No, I haven't got the money."
01:50 I'm a little bit nervous now because he's made a profile of me
01:54 and will go on his phone when the phone rings.
01:57 He's constantly ringing me all the time and he told me that he loves me.
02:01 And if I'm happy, he's happy and he's never met anybody so kind.
02:06 But I'm a little bit nervous now because he's a little bit stalking
02:10 and I don't know what to do.
02:11 And I want to tell other people, "Please don't add anybody."
02:15 They're not the real people.
02:17 It's trying to scam people.
02:19 And I don't want to cry because I'm getting a bit upset now.
02:22 But I can see people when they're poor, why they're doing that.
02:25 But I'm worried what will happen to old people
02:30 who would probably be conned out of a lot of money.
02:33 [MUSIC]
02:36 [MUSIC]
02:39 (upbeat music)
02:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]