"I was catfished by fake Gary Barlow - he said he loved me and begged for money"
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A woman has revealed how she was targeted by a scammer pretending to be Take That singer Gary Barlow.
Janet Smith, 62, believed she was talking to the celebrity on Facebook after she added him as a friend in March. Janet says she was bombarded with messages and compliments from the account.
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Hide AdAfter a few days, Janet grew suspicious and persuaded the scammer to reveal their true identity by offering her WhatsApp number in exchange. The scammer told Janet he was a 24-year-old man from Nigeria and apologised for lying to her.
![Janet Smith was targeted by a scammer pretending to be Gary Barlow.](https://www.harrogateadvertiser.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/04/09/14/07/i-was-catfished-1165772.jpg?trim=0,0,0,0&width=640&quality=65)
![Janet Smith was targeted by a scammer pretending to be Gary Barlow.](/img/placeholder.png)
Janet, from Colchester, Essex, said: “The words were really posh - ‘I’m in a meeting now’ and ‘I’m practising for a concert. And it was going well.
“Elderly people are going to be adding these 'celebrities'. They’re going to be conning these old people. I understand that they are poor and they have to get money for their family, but people might lose a lot of money over this.”
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