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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PeopleTranscript
00:00I started talking to this chap who I thought was Gary Barlow, first of all,
00:04because I went on Facebook and his name come up, so I added him.
00:08But first of all, I did think it might have been him.
00:12There was a picture, but he didn't have many friends on there.
00:15But he started saying things and I kept saying to him,
00:18are you Gary Barlow? Are you Gary Barlow?
00:20He said, yes, I am.
00:21And if you think I'm not, then stop texting.
00:25But I carried on and he was saying that I've got rehearsals now.
00:30I'll text you later. I believe in God.
00:32My marriage has broke up. I've got a lot of music.
00:36I'm a very busy person. And then he would come back on.
00:39And all I kept questioning is, are you sure you're not Gary Barlow?
00:43And then I think it was one evening, nine o'clock at night,
00:46he was texting me to about three in the morning.
00:49And I said to him, I want the truth now.
00:50I don't think you're Gary Barlow. And he kept saying, I am.
00:53I said, he said, can I have your WhatsApp number?
00:56So I said, can I have my WhatsApp number?
00:58Tell me who you are.
01:00Because he kept saying he had a secret,
01:02but he wouldn't tell me the secret because he had to learn to trust me.
01:05And the secret was, he wasn't Gary Barlow.
01:09He'd come from Nigeria. He was living there. He was poor.
01:12He had no money. He had studying. He couldn't feed his family.
01:16So he said to me, I've done fraud.
01:19So I could see his point, but it's wrong what he's done
01:24because he intimidated Gary Barlow.
01:27And how many people are going to be vulnerable?
01:30A bit like me, I'm very, very vulnerable.
01:31And I haven't sent him money, but I have felt guilty because he's poor.
01:35He asked me to download something.
01:38What would cost for a card? Download.
01:41They tell me how much it'd be so I can go and see him.
01:44And I can go and see his concerts.
01:46But I didn't do it. I said, no, I haven't got the money.
01:50I'm a little bit nervous now because he's made a profile off me.
01:54And we'll go on his phone when the phone rings.
01:57He's constantly ringing me all the time.
01:59And he told me that he loves me.
02:01And if I'm happy, he's happy.
02:03And he's never met anybody so kind.
02:06But I'm a little bit nervous now because he's a little bit stalking.
02:10And I don't know what to do.
02:11And I want to tell other people, please don't add anybody.
02:15They're not the real people.
02:17It's trying to scam people.
02:19And I don't want to cry because I'm getting a bit upset now.
02:22But I can see people when they're poor, why they're doing it.
02:25But I'm worried what would happen to old people
02:30who would probably be conned out of a lot of money.