A widow opened herself as much as new love. As an alternative, she was catfished for one million {dollars}.
Liza Likins, who sang backup for such music icons as Stevie Nicks and Linda Ronstadt, was lonely and depressed after her husband, Greg, died in 2020.
When a good-looking blond-haired man who resembled her late husband of 23 years began messaging her on Fb, Likins rebuked him for 4 months.
However finally, Likins was lured right into a relationship with “Donald,” who labored mining gold in Australia.
“I fell in love with this particular person; deeply, deeply in love. It was virtually 2 ½ years of this happening,” stated Likins.
Or so she thought.
As an alternative, Likins gave greater than $1 million to a romance scammer – somebody who satisfied the singer he was in love along with her, and he would be part of her in Las Vegas.
“Now I do know that he’s a felony. I do know he is a significant felony who preys on lonely, widowed ladies,” she stated.
In 2023, customers misplaced $1.14 billion to romance scams, which bilk individuals out of cash for love, in line with new data launched Friday by the Federal Commerce Fee. There have been a complete of 64,003 instances reported in 2023. Each numbers are down from 2022 and 2021, however “are nonetheless very excessive in comparison with different forms of scams, reflecting that it continues to be a major concern,” the FTC stated.
Likins, who used up all of her financial savings and bought her home for “Donald” and the faux dream, stated she was at occasions suicidal after she came upon the reality. However she now needs to forestall different ladies from falling prey to such schemes and has enlisted an organization that’s helped her observe down the scammers who’re based mostly in Nigeria. She hopes to “flip the script,” and have them arrested.
“It’s positively an embarrassing and humiliating expertise to be deceived,” she stated.
And Raho Bornhorst, a German man whose photos had been utilized by scammers to bilk Likins and a whole bunch of different ladies, says he’s additionally a sufferer. He’s on a mission, too, working with Meta to take down the handfuls of faux profiles utilizing his photographs – and to implement stricter requirements so others don’t get duped.
“It’s actually horrible as a result of I hear and really feel and see their tears,” Bornhorst stated. “They’re writing to me as a result of they assume they’re in love with me for one or two years already after which they uncover it’s simply me, the true one.”
What’s a Romance rip-off?
Romance scams are huge enterprise.
◾ In 2023, romance scams ranked second solely to funding scams in complete reported greenback losses.
◾ As in 2021 and 2022, social media was the highest romance rip-off contact methodology in 2023, ranked by each complete reported losses and by variety of studies.
◾ Additionally as in 2021 and 2022, cryptocurrency was the highest romance rip-off fee methodology ranked by complete reported losses.
Who’s Liza Likins?
Likins, 75, who goes by the stage identify Liza Jane, made her first album in 1968. She sang backup vocals for a lot of musicians, together with Ronstadt and Stevie Nicks. Nicks was maid-of-honor at Likins’ first marriage to Kenny Edwards of the Stone Poneys.
Likins additionally went on tour with Fleetwood Mac and was Nicks’ roommate for 10 years.
Her second marriage was to Greg Likins, who helped handle her singing profession and funds. In 1968, he had been her first boyfriend and performed lead guitar on her album.
Greg fell unwell in 2020, across the time of the COVID-19 shutdown. It took a while to seek out out what was fallacious, however he was identified with metastatic melanoma and died six weeks later.
After Greg’s dying, Liza stated she went right into a deep melancholy and remoted herself in her Vegas house. However after about seven months, pals informed her she wanted to fulfill some individuals.
She modified her marital standing on her Fb account to widowed and shortly began getting messages from males. One reminded her of Greg. She ignored him.
“Then on the finish of 4 months, he despatched me an image of him meditating with Buddha. That acquired me. I went, OK, this can be a good man,” Likins remembers.
The 2 started speaking a number of occasions a day. She started falling in love with the person who was showering her with consideration.
What occurred to Liza Likins?
The primary time Donald requested for cash, it was for $1,000 to get him some Wi-Fi time to name her from the gold mines in a rural a part of Outback Nation in Australia, the place he labored. Their communications had been principally by way of the What’s App platform, which affords free worldwide texting and cellphone calls.
Ultimately, the story acquired greater. Donald was getting ready to return to Vegas to marry Liza and he was sending his retirement cash. He confirmed a videotape of him placing cash and gold bars equaling $700 million in a pink protected that was going to be shipped to Liza. He could be there three days later.
“And that’s when all the massive cash and Bitcoin cash began altering fingers,” she stated.
He wanted $140,000 for a logistics firm. Liza researched the corporate, and it was actual. However then issues snowballed and the tales started to sound like a James Bond film.
The lies included the bundle getting stopped by authorities, somebody providing to get cosmetic surgery to appear to be Donald to simply accept the bundle and finally Donald himself getting arrested and thrown in a Spanish jail.
He would want $250,000 to get out on bail. Liza bought her home to get the bail cash.
“There have been footage that went with each story,” she stated. “His story was bulletproof.
“I went to the airport 4 occasions to select him up. I’ve nonetheless by no means met him.”
Likins was satisfied the person she knew as Donald was coming to reside along with her – even after she noticed a present about different ladies who had been conned out of their cash by a supposed suitor. She reached out to the corporate that produced that episode.
The corporate, Social Catfish, which verifies on-line identities utilizing reverse search expertise, has been working with Likins and tracked the cryptocurrency she used to scammers in Nigeria. Likins used the knowledge to file studies with the FBI however has not heard again. Social Catfish, which featured Likins in an episode of its YouTube present, “Catfished: Offered by Social Catfish,” has been working with authorities in Nigeria to shut in on Likins’ predators.
How did Likins not know she was being catfished?
The scammers preyed on Likins’ loneliness, she stated. They studied her Fb posts to know what appealed to her: “Buddhism, spirituality and my perception in God,” Likins stated. “They performed on all of these issues.”
“Donald” discovered actual photographs of Bornhorst with a Buddha behind him and different photographs to go together with the narrative, she stated.
There have been additionally altered footage.
Liza acquired a photograph supposedly of Donald in a Spanish jail, needing bail cash, holding a sticky notice professing his love for her and want to hitch her.
At one level, Likins stated she virtually thought she knew Donald from a unique life, or that he was her late husband in one other kind. Donald even known as Likins some pet names her late husband had known as her. She thinks scammers discovered them by finding out her Fb posts.
Likins stated at occasions their cellphone calls would reduce out or Donald would say he couldn’t ship a textual content or video due to the patchy service. The one time she requested for a video name, it was fuzzy and he or she couldn’t make out anybody’s face.
“This Donald man had anyone else fake it was him and rig the video after which they simply press play each time they’re supposed to speak to you in order that their mouth is shifting…so that you assume it’s actual,” she stated.
“It’s all phony baloney. It’s all lies.”
Unraveling the thriller
Romance scammers are particularly concentrating on emotionally weak individuals, stated Social Catfish Founder David McClellan.
And all scammers, not simply these engaged in romance schemes, prey on individuals’s psychology, he stated.
“Scammers use related ways to rip-off victims the place they fall in love with you and so they separate you from your loved ones and so they make you make selections in a short time so that you simply don’t have time to consider it,” McClellan stated. “They do small little issues so that you can make you are feeling such as you owe them.”
In a variety of instances the victims are lonely, depressed, or in a scenario that opens them as much as imagine the lies, he stated.
As soon as the sufferer “goes down the rabbit gap,” typically they’ve a hunch one thing is fallacious, however then they’re in so deep that they attempt to see it by means of to get their a reimbursement, McClellan stated.
It’s not simply ladies who’re victimized, McClellan stated. About 50% of the purchasers who come to the Social Catfish web site are male, he stated. Males are extra reluctant to report their scams since they are typically extra of a sexual nature and so they’re embarrassed, McClellan stated.
McClellan began his firm greater than eight years in the past to assist shield individuals on-line. The corporate has developed software program and sells subscriptions. The Catfished Channel options 52 episodes a yr the place McClellan and his crew assist a rip-off sufferer who hasn’t had luck with regulation enforcement, doing the groundwork to trace down as a lot data as they’ll for the sufferer handy over to authorities. McClellan’s crew additionally works with regulation enforcement in different international locations, comparable to Nigeria, to attempt to nab the scammers.
Scams are ‘grey space’ for regulation enforcement
Romance scams and related schemes the place somebody pretends to be another person and steals cash are sometimes a “grey space” for native or nationwide regulation enforcement as a result of whereas the victims have been tricked, they nonetheless willingly gave away their cash, McClellan stated.
Likins says she has contacted the FBI thrice along with her story. She has by no means heard again. An e-mail from USA TODAY to the FBI for touch upon Likins’ case was not returned. The FBI usually doesn’t affirm or deny an investigation.
McClellan stated Nigerian authorities have discovered a minimum of one particular person concerned within the rip-off that focused Linkins, however he doesn’t know extra particulars for the reason that inquiry is ongoing.
McClellan has tried to decrease Likins’ expectations as a result of even when the scammers are caught, he stated, it’s doubtless they bilked many victims, and the cash is gone.
The true man within the footage speaks out
Raho Bornhorst is a life coach and success mentor for entrepreneurs in Germany. A part of his job is public talking and sharing about his life on Fb and different social media websites.
However in a video interview with USA TODAY, Bornhorst stated that doesn’t imply scammers have the proper to take his photographs and use them to dupe different individuals.
Bornhorst has been involved with Likins by means of Social Catfish, whose workers verified his id. Likins stated Bornhorst, in his real-life capability as a life coach, has been very comforting and useful, and he or she’s needed to remind herself that she shouldn’t be in love with him, however reasonably a persona scammers created, utilizing his photographs.
For 3 years, Bornhorst has been contacted by a minimum of 100 ladies who thought they had been in love with him and stated that he scammed them out of their cash.
Bornhorst, who’s single and does date, however not on-line, is aware of how weak the ladies really feel. 4 years in the past, he was bilked out of roughly $150,000 by a girl he too met on-line.
Getting motion to wipe out faux profiles
Bornhorst blames Meta, the proprietor of Fb for permitting faux profiles to stay on the positioning. He and his pals have consistently reported faux profiles, a few of which have been up for years, to the social media firm. None had been taken down and Bornhorst stated he’d been informed they did not violate Fb requirements.
A search of Fb discovered a minimum of 13 accounts with Bornhorst’s identify and picture. He stated solely two are his – one private and one skilled.
“In fact, I permit my image to be proven on Fb, however I don’t permit anyone else copying my picture and pretending to be me. That’s positively not authorized,” he stated.
USA TODAY contacted Fb/Meta on behalf of Bornhorst and Bornhorst shared his actual private {and professional} profile pages. The following day Meta despatched this assertion:
“Scams are sadly used to deceive, defraud, and manipulate individuals throughout the web. Individuals who impersonate others on Fb and Instagram violate our insurance policies, and we take away this content material when it’s discovered – like on this case. Our work on this space is rarely completed, and we proceed to put money into detection expertise and work with regulation enforcement to prosecute scammers.”
Do not get scammed: Make these 5 New Year’s resolutions to avoid scams this year
Meta additionally shared that it “removes massive numbers of impersonating accounts on a constant foundation by means of a mix of expertise, reporting instruments and human overview.” Meta stated its detection expertise helps block tens of millions of makes an attempt to create faux accounts day by day and detects tens of millions extra inside minutes of creation. In its final Neighborhood Requirements Enforcement Report, Meta stated it eliminated 827 million faux accounts on Fb, 99% of which had been earlier than they had been reported as faux.
After Meta eliminated some faux Bornhorst profiles, his actual Instagram account was inadvertently eliminated. Bornhorst additionally reported one other 10 faux profiles utilizing his photos however one other identify. Meta fastened these points.
A Meta spokesperson stated there have been no additional updates to the assertion when requested why faux profiles Bornhorst had been reporting for the final three years had not been eliminated earlier than the corporate was contacted by USA TODAY.
Confronting ‘Donald’
After Likins discovered the reality about “Donald” from Social Catfish, she confronted him. Donald informed her to not throw away what they’d labored so onerous to construct and so they’d quickly be collectively.
Likins was nonetheless hopeful that is perhaps true, although Social Catfish informed her it wasn’t. She despatched Donald $6,000 for a personal jet to deliver him to Las Vegas. When he was purported to have arrived, he stated he was being detained by Homeland Safety. Likins went to the safety workplace and so they knew nothing about him.
The final time Likins spoke to Donald was round Christmas 2022. He informed her he’d pay her again triple what she’d despatched – totaled to be greater than $1.2 million by Social Catfish.
By then, Likins was in manufacturing for the Catfished present and knew the reality. She modified her cellphone quantity, in addition to her Fb profile and blocked Donald.
Choosing up the items
Likins stated the scammers have destroyed her and left her with no cash. She’s had her electrical energy turned off twice. She has struggled to purchase meals and fuel for her automotive. She has misplaced pals who mocked her for getting scammed.
Within the midst of all of this, Likins additionally needed to have surgical procedure on her spinal column and her vocal cords have suffered. She will be able to’t sing the way in which she used to, she stated. She’s engaged on a e-book about her music life and in addition a e-book about being scammed.
Likins is hopeful her scammers can be prosecuted, however she’s given up hope that she’ll get any a reimbursement.
She encourages ladies so far in particular person. Likins is now relationship, however solely males she will be able to bodily see in the identical room.
“As quickly as anyone asks for cash, block them and don’t ever speak to them once more,” she stated. “If I had completed that, I’d nonetheless have a pleasant, cozy snug life.”
Tricks to keep away from falling for a Romance Rip-off
Listed here are ideas from the FTC and McClellan, the Social Catfish CEO:
◾ Scammers fake to be heroes in faraway locations. The phony Marines, troopers, admirals, generals, diplomats, and surgeons declare they’ll’t communicate or present their faces as a result of they’re in Afghanistan, Ukraine, or South Sudan – however they aren’t.
◾ Scammers say they’re in love. You’ll be able to’t meet these faraway “pals” in particular person, however they’ll chat with you every day. Too quickly, they shock you with declarations of affection, or ask to marry you, and say you may share all of your secrets and techniques (and cash) with them now. Don’t imagine them.
◾ Scammers ask for costly favors. They could ask you to simply accept a bundle of money, gems, and gold and pay the faux “delivery charge” that basically goes into their pocket. Or, they ask for brand spanking new telephones to interchange damaged ones or beg for present playing cards and presents for the “youngsters they left again house.” (There aren’t any youngsters.) In case you say OK to at least one request, they arrive again with one other – after which one other.
◾ Scammers all the time ask for cash. They make plans to go to however let you know they’re delayed by expensive issues: a misplaced airline ticket or visa, a medical emergency, or a blocked account. They are saying should you might ship them some cash, they may nonetheless come see you. However the minute your on-line love curiosity asks for cash, you already know it’s a rip-off. Wish to know who else is a scammer? Anybody who asks you to share account numbers, ship gift cards or wire transfers, or pay them with payment apps or cryptocurrency.
◾ In case you assume somebody is a scammer, reduce off contact. Inform the net app or social media platform straight away, after which inform the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Additionally report them to native regulation enforcement, the FBI, or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
◾ And keep in mind, individuals of all ages may be scammed. McClellan has seen victims as younger as 18.
Betty Lin-Fisher is a shopper reporter for USA TODAY. Attain her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or observe her on X, Fb, or Instagram @blinfisher. Join our free The Every day Cash publication, which can embody shopper information on Fridays, here.
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: A dating scam cheated a singer of $1 million; how she’s fighting back
