Heartbroken Seal superfan, 41, lost £2,000 in fake romance scam after online con artist posed as British pop legend and wooed her over WhatsApp
- Réka Halasi was left bankrupt after conman said he was in financial difficulties
- The fake Seal created an Instagram account which Ms Halasi thought was real
- She sent a direct message to the profile, before he asked to talk on WhatsApp
A Seal superfan lost £2,000 in a fake romance scam after an online con artist posed as the British pop legend.
Réka Halasi, 41, from Hungary, was left bankrupt after the conman claimed he was in financial difficulties, despite the real artist reportedly being worth £30million.
The fake Seal had created an Instagram account which Ms Halasi, who was unemployed at the time, believed was real.
She sent a direct message to the profile about the album Standards, which was a UK top 20 hit, before the man asked to communicate on WhatsApp, The Mirror reported.
A Seal (pictured in 2019) superfan lost £2,000 in a fake romance scam after an online con artist posed as the British pop legend
Réka Halasi, 41, from Hungary, was left bankrupt after the conman claimed he was in financial difficulties, despite the real artist reportedly being worth £30million. Seal was once married to supermodel Heidi Klum (right)
The scammer was able to impersonate the singer, who was once married to supermodel Heidi Klum, on a video call, even singing Ms Halasi’s favourite hit – Love’s Divine.
‘I feel foolish. But I enjoyed our conversations and believed there was a romantic connection developing,’ Ms Halasi said.
‘He looked and sounded like Seal and said he was in the US, which is where Seal lives.’
Ms Halasi, who is single and has a job testing software, was fooled for more than two months before she suspected he was not the real Seal.
She continued: ‘We decided we wanted to meet up in person, but he said there was a tariff of £10,195 that he needed me to lend him.
‘I paid £2,000 and explained that was all I could afford – but he then demanded I sell my apartment, take out a mortgage and borrow money from friends.’
The fraudster bombarded her with messages when she declined and Ms Halasi has since reported the scam to the police in Budapest.
There are no suggestions the popstar or anyone connected with him was involved in the alleged fraud.
It comes after a woman who thought she was dating George Ezra was actually scammed by a catfish hoping to rack up some cash.
A woman who thought she was dating George Ezra was actually scammed by a catfish hoping to rack up some cash
Helen – who went only by her first name – told This Morning how an innocent post on the musician’s fan club page led to a web of lies and betrayal
Helen – who went only by her first name – told This Morning how an innocent post on the musician’s fan club page led to a web of lies and betrayal, with the impostor asking her for £5,000 and seemingly then going on to impersonate a loan company and New Scotland Yard officers.
The fraud victim, who has been divorced for eight years and has three kids, was eventually saved by her daughter, who immediately grew suspicious when she heard everything and took the story to Catfish UK.
It was soon revealed that the fraudster tried to ask Helen for money and seemingly took on various identities to do so.
It all started when Helen heard the musician’s tune playing in a shop, and penned a grateful post on George’s page, thanking him for making the fans smile.
She soon got a reply from the George Ezra fan club saying to send a DM – and days later, Helen saw what she thought was a friend request from the real Green Green Grass singer on Facebook.
Before long, she and ‘George’ were chatting almost constantly.
The scammer impersonating the 29-year-old celeb said he reached out because he had music coming out – and claimed his manager told him to get in touch with some fans.
Source: Read Full Article
