Outraged influencer says 350 catfish have used her photos on fake dating profiles
Megan Montenegro said online scammers have used her images to con people out of sums as large as $13,000
A distressed influencer says 350 different scammers have used her Instagram photos to set up fake dating profiles and con people out of money. Megan Montenegro, from Savannah, Georgia, told of her horror that unsuspecting victims have been conned out of sums up to $13,000 using her photos.
Megan said: ‘There have been several circumstances in which men have said that they’ve sent money, and I even had a woman one time tell me that she sent money,” Montenegro said.
‘One sent, like, $5,000, and another one sent $13,000, and it really just breaks my heart because people work really hard for their money, and then somebody else out here is scamming them.’
The influencer has shared her story to try and spare others falling victim to the same scam, known as catfishing. It sees fraudsters lure unsuspecting victims into a fake relationship using a fictional personal, with some scammers also using the ruse to ask for cash.
Megan uses her Instagram account to model and promote brands for cash, and says she has received threats, as well as messages from heartbroken singletons wrongly accusing her of suddenly going quiet on them.
She told WSAV: ‘I had a family contact me and they were telling me, ‘we know that this is not really you talking to my father,’”
‘i’ve actually gotten threats and stuff from people, because they’re like, “you had something to do with this,” you know, “you broke my heart,”. I really wasn’t included or involved in it in any way.’
Experts say catfishing has exploded during Covid, and warn popular influencers’ images are often used to try and con internet users out of money.
They have urged people not to send money to people they’ve met online, to be wary of users who are keen to show off an official identity to verify themselves, and to be on the lookout for people who refuse to conduct video calls.
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