‘Most impersonated person ever’ had to quit career and change her entire life
For just under a decade, Vanessa worked as a camgirl and streamed adult content live on the internet.
Fans would pay up to $20 (£17) a minute to be able to watch and interact her, meaning she was earning roughly a $1 million a year at her peak.
To give her a bit of a boost of confidence (and help to protect her identity), she took on the alter ego of Janessa Brazil.
However, it’s a name she now hates and despite leaving that and her adult career behind, she still gets angry and confused messages for Janessa. And this has taken its toll on Vanesa.
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That’s as the 40-year-old is thought to be one of the ‘most impersonated’ people, with her face used to scam men out of thousands of dollars.
Janessa Brazil
The subject of BBC World Services’ Love, Janessa podcast series, she explained how she came up with the name.
Having been a bit shy when she started out as a camgirl, she figured: “It's not really me, it's Janessa, so I won't be ashamed.”
And as well as Brazil being the place where Vanessa was born, there was also quite a smart choice behind the surname as it was a popular search term on the internet.
"I hate that name," she told the BBC. "But it helped me get popular quickly."
She worked as Janessa in the adult industry for about eight years, becoming a successful brand with a big online presence. However, the profile went dark in 2016.
Why did she quit?
As the team noted it was hard to track her down, Vanessa explained that she had quit making online content in a bid to stop scammers.
"I no longer want to give them the power to use anything of mine ever again," she said.
She began receiving such a colossal number of messages from victims of scams using her images and videos that she simply couldn’t take it any longer.
Instead, she packed her things, left her home and husband and started a new life. At the time, it was reported that she was training as a therapist and writing a memoir.
But she had not gone to the authorities to report the scammers as she believed it wouldn’t be taken seriously.
“They're going to look at me like, 'You're a porn star' and laugh at my face," she said.
Romance scams
Vanessa’s picture and videos have been used historically as bait in online romance scams.
She first became aware of it when a man took to the chat during one of her live shows to say he was her husband and she’d promised she’d pack it all in. While she thought it was a prank, the performer asked him to email her and more victims started to come forward.
But at the same time, scammers would also be making random requests such as to put on a red hat, with the images then used.
“It was a nightmare,” Vanessa said. “But I felt bad for these guys. What am I supposed to do?”
She tried to respond to the emails at first, but it became too much.
One victim said he had sent a total of $250,000 (£207,500) over four years, draining his savings and loans, to who he thought was a young woman named Hannah – using Janessa’s images.
"I put myself out there completely, so they had a lot to work with,” she said of the scammers as she added: “They show love and then take it away. The guys get desperate and they're willing to do anything to get it back.”
Vanessa said she had been traumatised by the huge glow of victims which she dubbed a monster.
"If I got all the money that these guys sent all these scammers, I would be a billionaire today, not sitting here in my little apartment," she added.
Now, a site under her name comes with the warning: "If you've been scammed by individuals misusing my identity, you are not alone. Please use the official channels here to report the incident.
This is the only website authorised by me."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, you can contact Victim Support on 08 08 16 89 111, start a live chat, or visit the website, all of which are available 24 hours seven days a week.
Topics: Adult Industry, Money
Jess Battison