By this point with social media, it’s fair to say we’ve all seen a bit of catfishing.
Whether it’s someone you knew from school posting selfies that quite clearly look nothing like real life them or if it’s dodgy messages in your requests from apparent ‘celebrities’, it happens pretty regularly.
And a British woman ended up getting catfished by a fake Gary Barlow who said he ‘loved her’ and begged her for money. Yes, the Take That singer and The X Factor judge.
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Janet Smith genuinely thought she was chatting to the songwriter for about a week after adding him as a friend on Facebook.
‘Barlow’ asked her to keep this ‘private account’ as a ‘secret’ between them and added: “You should know me as simple and down to earth person, I deserve a private life with a few of my fans, nobody knows what tomorrow might be for us all.”
Smith said they were talking all week and he confessed to her he’d split from his partner – Barlow’s been married to his wife and mother of his kids for over 20 years.
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The 62-year-old said: “He was kind. He was nice. He was really lovely, saying: 'Good morning. Good evening, I've seen your videos' because I love to dance.
“The words were really posh - 'I'm in a meeting now' and 'I'm practicing for a concert'. And it was going well. He just kept saying 'I'm Gary Barlow, I've split up."
But eventually, she began to get suspicious that it wasn’t actually the ‘Greatest Day’ singer.
Smith said: “Gary Barlow would not talk to somebody like me, he's too famous. I just thought, this isn't Gary Barlow. I kept saying, 'you're not the real one! ' And he was saying, 'You're lovely, you're kind, yes, I am Gary Barlow.'”
Eventually, she got to the truth by offering her WhatsApp number in return for his true identity. Turns out he’s actually a 24-year-old bloke from Nigeria and apologised for tricking Smith.
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He apparently said: “I'm sorry, I've done fraud but we come from a poor family. I do admire Gary Barlow, I like singing and I like his songs.”
The catfish went on to confess his love for her and explained how he’d hoped she’d give him some money.
“I'm saddened because he is poor and he's got no money. For the last week, he's been constantly texting me, asking me where I am. He was texting me from 9am to 3am,” she said.
Smith says the whole thing has left her feeling ‘really guilty’ after not giving him any cash but is now warning others to be more cautious as ‘people might lose a lot of money over this’.
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She added: “It’s also giving celebrities a bad name.”
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: Social Media, Celebrity, UK News