Catfishing has always been a concern online, and one woman from Massachusetts learned the hard way about falling for online scammers.
This particular case is even more shocking because it involved a scammer impersonating country music legend Vince Gill. The scam, which financially devastated the woman, was discussed on a recent episode of Scammer Stories, where the woman’s daughter, Jackie, shared their experience.
It all started when Jackie noticed changes in her mother’s behavior and became concerned. Digging through her mother’s phone for answers, she was shocked to discover that her mother had been conversing with someone she believed to be the real Vince Gill.
“She was following the real Vince Gill,” Jackie had said. “I’m sure it’s a managed account, not him. She commented ‘Oh we love you in Boston! We hope you come to Boston.’ After looking at that, we can see that other people had liked it, and then we started looking at people that were following my mother. They were fake Vince Gill accounts. Things like ‘official’ but the ‘L’ was a one instead of the ‘L.’”
The situation escalated when one of her mother’s friends revealed that her mother had been asking for money to invest in something for “Vince Gill.” The scammer spun an outrageous lie, claiming that Vince’s wife, singer Amy Grant, was planning to divorce him after a sexual assault allegation. The scammer claimed they needed $350,000 in hush money and needed Jackie’s mother’s help to stay afloat during this supposed difficult time.
Unfortunately, by the time Jackie intervened, it was too late. Her mother’s bank accounts were completely drained, including her retirement fund. The fate of the money remains unclear, and it’s unknown if the scammer was ever identified.
This story serves as an important reminder to be aware of online scammers, and most importantly— if a famous person is chatting with you online and asks for money, it’s probably not them.