An imposter on Facebook pretending to be Hollywood film star Johnny Depp scammed a woman out of 'thousands' of pounds.
Now she said she wants to share her story as a warning to others despite feeling 'stupid' about the scam.
She said: “If you had told me about it before it happened I would have said 'I wouldn’t be fooled by anything like that' but I want people to know how insidious it is.
“I can’t believe how I got pulled in.”
The Pirates of the Caribbean star has twice posted statements on Instagram warning fans about scammers pretending to be him or offering a chance to meet him, often for payment.
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Some have even digitally mimicked his voice.
The retired social worker said of course she always knew at some level it could not be Johnny Depp but was ‘enjoying it too much’.
“Part of me is angry – but part of me had a really good time. It did my self-esteem a world of good. I did not realise what was happening,” she said.
Twice-married, the woman who is 72 and describes herself as ‘happily divorced’, met the man who was based in the US on Facebook.
“We talked for seven months, sometimes twice a day on Google Chat. He would tell me things like he was in France filming.
"Once he told me he and his team were delivering toys to children in hospital in LA. I said, are you going to be Jack Sparrow? And he said, oh I can't do that anymore.
“About three months in, he asked for money on the pretext that I would be paying to go over and meet him. He talked about me taking a private jet to LA.”
However, they never did meet as he always came up with an excuse.
“Then he talked about needing money so we could buy a house together. He asked me for much more money than I had so I said, don’t be ridiculous.”
She ended the relationship at the beginning of February.
“A large part of me was kind of sad but I said I’m fed up of this now," she said. "He kept finding excuses why we could not meet up so I refused to keep sending money.
“I told my son and a couple of friends – he thought it was a scam.”
She has now reported the man to the police, Action Fraud and intends to alert Facebook.
She preferred not to reveal how much money she has lost but said it was ‘thousands’ plus ‘I paid for it with some expensive therapy’.
She says now: “How the hell did I ever think it was him but it’s not like that. I got drawn in in a way I would never have thought was possible.
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“But it was a real relationship. We had rows. I had a breast cancer scare and he was there for me through that. He must have got up in the middle of the night to contact me.
“He took a lot of money off me - thousands,” she said. “It must sound stupid. I must sound like some poor deluded old duck.
“But at the time I was led to believe it was all part of us getting together, and I was so enjoying it, I did not want it to stop.”
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This story was written by Miranda Norris, she joined the team in 2021 and covers news across Oxfordshire as well as news from Witney.
Get in touch with her by emailing: Miranda.Norris@newsquest.co.uk. Or find her on Twitter: @Mirandajnorris
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