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Perth Now
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Love-sick ‘Jennifer Aniston' sucking life out of victims
It's Jennifer Aniston. But it's not THE Jennifer Aniston. This Jennifer Aniston is a crook — and she's an expert at convincing you to part with your hard-earned money. But take a long, hard, closer look. She's not even real. She's a deepfake. One of a tricky new wave of frauds taking place across the world. And the sweet talker has suckered in victims around the globe — including red-faced Paul Davis. The 43-year-old handed over $415 to the AI scammer after falling for her charms. He admits to being sceptical at first but when she sent him her driving licence and told him that she 'loved him', he was sucked in. 'Jennifer Aniston' send a series of messages as part of the elaborate scam. Credit: Daily Echo/Solent News & Photo Agency / Daily Echo/Solent News 'I've had fake videos from Jennifer Aniston saying she loves me and asking for £200 ($415). I believed it — and I paid,' he said. Mr Davis sent the fraudster Apple gift cards to the value, saying: 'I got bitten. Once bitten, twice shy.' He said he finally fell victim after months of being hounded. 'It's been going on for about five months,' Mr Davis, who battles depression, said. 'I thought people would get into trouble for this but these people seem to be having a laugh and getting away with it. 'I can't keep taking that sort of hit.' The deepfake even tugged at the heart strings. Credit: Daily Echo/Solent News & Photo Agency / Daily Echo/Solent News Mr Davis, from Southampton in England, said he knew others who had been scammed out of $1000 in Apple gift vouchers. Scammers often request victims buy gift cards and send them to them. Mr Davis is not the only soul feeling sorry for himself. A French woman lost her marriage, fortune and mental health to 'Brad Pitt', who was unmasked in Nigeria. She was scammed into funding a fake cancer treatment for the star after receiving AI-generated selfies and sweet-talking texts. Paul Davis was sucked in by a deepfake 'Jennifer Aniston'. Credit: Daily Echo/Solent News & Photo Agency / Daily Echo/Solent News
New York Post
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Scammed Brit thought Jennifer Aniston was in love with him —and needed help paying her Apple bill
He really fell for this Friends' request. A gullible British man was scammed by an online catfisher — believing it was a hard-up Jennifer Aniston madly in love with him. Paul Davis, 43, told The Sun he paid out non-refundable Apple gift cards after being sent messages he believed were from the 'Friends' star blowing him kisses and holding up a sign reading, 'I love you.' Advertisement 3 Davis said a photo of Aniston's driver's license convinced him she was real. Daily Echo/Solent News 'I've had fake videos from Jennifer Aniston saying she loves me and asking for [about $270],' he told the UK paper of the scam using AI images. 'I believed it – and I paid.' The unemployed Brit from Southampton fell for the scam even though the supposed Hollywood superstar said she needed his help to pay for her Apple subscriptions. Advertisement 3 Paul Davis was scammed out of roughly $270 he thought he sent to Jennifer Aniston. Daily Echo/Solent News 'Are you there my love,' the scammer asked him in one exchange. 'My subscription is about to expire. He believed it, he said, because he was sent a photo supposedly proving it was Aniston's driver's license, then some audio clips that sounded just like Brad Pitt's ex-wife. 3 Davis received AI-generated videos of Aniston saying she loved him. Daily Echo/Solent News Advertisement Davis said scammers had messaged him incessantly, with others pretending to be tech giants Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. 'It's been going on for five months,' he said. 'I thought someone would get in trouble for this, but they seem to be having a laugh – and getting away with it.' He finally learned his lesson, he said, after getting fleeced by the fake Aniston. 'I got bitten,' Davis said. 'Once bitten, twice shy.'
Express Tribune
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
British man scammed by AI deepfake of Jennifer Aniston in fake romance phishing scam
A man from Southampton has spoken out after falling victim to an AI-driven scam impersonating actress Jennifer Aniston. Paul Davis, 43, says he was targeted with AI-generated videos that included fake messages and images from celebrities such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Aniston. In one message, the deepfake Jennifer Aniston told him 'she loved him' and asked for money, even sending what looked like a copy of her driving licence. Believing the message was genuine, Paul sent £200 in Apple gift cards. 'I've got fake videos from Jennifer Aniston asking me for £200 and saying she loves me,' he said. Photo: Daily Echo/Solent News Paul, who is unemployed and lives with depression, said scammers have targeted him for five months, promising everything from cash prizes to luxury vehicles. The scam used fake certificates and doctored ID cards designed to look official, including one that claimed he had won £500,000 and a Range Rover. Paul isn't alone—he said a friend lost over £1,000 to similar schemes. Photo: Daily Echo/Solent News In a related case, a French woman was defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of pounds by a scammer posing as actor Brad Pitt. The con artist used reels of AI-generated images and romantic messages to build trust over time. Claiming to be in love, the fake Pitt convinced the woman to send large sums of money to support supposed personal and legal expenses. Experts say such high-profile impersonations are becoming more common as deepfake technology becomes more accessible and convincing.
The Irish Sun
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
My mum abandoned us for toyboy Masai warrior on holiday in Kenya – it destroyed my life & even teachers laughed at me
A SON whose mum left her family to marry a Masai warrior she met on holiday revealed it destroyed his childhood. 6 Cheryl Thomasgood, then 34, left her second husband and three children behind to marry Daniel Lekimencho Credit: Solent News 6 The pair married in 1995 before moving to the Isle of Wight Credit: Youtube 6 Chery's son Stevie has broken his silence on his traumatic childhood Credit: Colin Shephard The couple first lay eyes on each other at the Bamburi Beach Hotel in Mombasa. Cheryl quickly traded in her suburban life on the Her son Stevie Liddington, now 43, has broken his silence on the ordeal in light of his mother's comments earlier this month. She explained how she felt Read More But Stevie, who was 11 when Cheryl left, told "My mother did not just abandon her family in the 1990s – she ruined our childhoods," he said. "She left behind three children, including me, and never looked back in any meaningful or supportive way. "She was never the kind of mother who cared about her children's emotional well-being, and even now, decades later, she continues to show who she truly is by dragging this all up again without a thought for the people it hurts." Most read in The Sun Stevie has relocated with his wife and children to Seoul, in South Korea, and hasn't spoken to Cheryl in 10 years. He told how his brother moved to Canada, and similarly has little contact with their mum. In harrowing tales, Stevie revealed his childhood had been traumatic before Daniel arrived on the scene. His father, Robert Liddington, had left the home when he was five-years-old, which saw Cheryl spiral into a mental breakdown. Stevie and his younger brother were temporarily placed in foster care after they "saw things no child should ever witness" - including Cheryl holding a knife to her own neck, Stevie claimed. He recalled Cheryl's second husband, Mike Mason, stepping up and giving the family stability. 6 Cheryl and Daniel welcomed a daughter together in 1998 Credit: Solent News 6 The couple went through a messy divorce in 1999 Credit: Youtube 6 Stevie claimed the turbulent relationship led to physical fights Credit: Youtube But their happiness was shattered beyond repair with "one phone call" from Kenya - when Cheryl said she was never coming home. Stevie's trauma only deepened after the case sparked a media frenzy, which he claimed his mother loved to fuel. He said: "At school, classmates brought in newspapers to laugh at me. Teachers stood by or laughed along. I was publicly humiliated. "And where was Cheryl? Chasing cameras. Giving interviews. Writing a book. She didn't ask how we were. She didn't check in. Our family crumbled." He refuted her expressions of regret and said she'd never taken accountability properly. The web designer claimed her comments were filled with lies, including the impression Daniel was loved by the kids. He dubbed Cheryl's relationship with the warrior as "violent" and "chaotic". Cheryl and Daniel welcomed a daughter together, Misti, in 1998. But Stevie said he was often left to look after his half-sister, when Cheryl would go missing for days. He recalled praying his mother was still alive, while walking around the local area for hours searching for her. Stevie revealed Misti and Cheryl are still in contact with each other and there is no bad blood. His brother, who relocated to Canada, also has an on-and-off relationship with Cheryl. But Stevie is insistent he must keep the door closed with "narcissistic" Cheryl - who he slammed should "never have been a mother". CHERYL'S REGRET Cheryl and her new partner made headlines across the globe with people left gobsmacked at her decision to abandon the comfortable middle-class life for a new home and partner in rural Kenya. She traded it in to help the warrior cook, clean and hunt, sleeping on goatskin and surviving on a diet of cow's blood and cabbage in a But the bizarre couple eventually to leave Kenya behind returned to the Isle of Wight in 1995. They tied the knot on Valentine's Day, both wearing But more than three decades later, Cheryl has broken her silence after the marriage fell apart - when she claimed Daniel became She described feeling used as a "meal ticket" in an emotional interview with the "I made a huge mistake, it was very wrong of me, and I have a lot of regrets, especially about how it damaged my children," she said. Cheryl split with Daniel in 1999 just four years after they were married and one year after their daughter was born. Now, 65-year-old Cheryl lives alone in a seaside town in Somerset where she is well known among the local community. She has kept her controversial past hidden from the community with none of her friends aware of the bizarre relationship she once had with the Masai warrior. MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN Cheryl has now told how shortly after arriving in the UK Daniel became obsessed with material things and money. She detailed how Daniel quickly became moody and miserable over the couples lot in life, wanting more money and more possessions, changed by life in the UK. Cheryl recalled the only time Daniel being happy was when the She added: "He would say that he was getting ready for battle and wanted to jump as high as an Trying to pinpoint what went wrong in the peculiar relationship Cheryl blamed a slew of drastic cultural differences between her and her husband. She reportedly felt that adjusting to Cheryl admitted that she suffered sexual abuse as a young girl and spoke about the harrowing difficulties she faced growing up in a dysfunctional London household with alcoholic parents, she was reportedly contemplating suicide at the time she met Daniel. She revealed how she was urged to go on her Kenyan holiday by a friend who was in the same church choir as her, the pair went on the holiday that would change her life forever together. When Cheryl went to Kenya she was at a low point in her life she said, suffering with childhood trauma and stuck in an unhappy marriage to her second husband Mike. She had seen Daniel was an answer to her problems, believing he could help her heal and find peace through Cheryl now admits that her love affair with the Masai warrior was just an escape from her problems and not an answer to them. MOVING ON Asked about what she regrets the most about her time with her warrior toy boy, Cheryl said: "The impact all this had on my children. Having a Masai warrior as a father was not easy for them. Daniel was trying his best, but he could never understand the Western ways and couldn't be the dad that they needed." Cheryl said that her children had missed out on having a proper father figure in their lives because of her relationship with Daniel and the break down of her first two marriages. Despite having no contact with Daniel, Cheryl maintained she still has Following the pair's split, Masai warrior Daniel remained on the Isle of Wight where he now works in a supermarket.
Scottish Sun
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
My mum abandoned us for toyboy Masai warrior on holiday in Kenya – it destroyed my life & even teachers laughed at me
Stevie revealed his childhood had been traumatic before Daniel arrived on the scene FAMILY TORN APART My mum abandoned us for toyboy Masai warrior on holiday in Kenya – it destroyed my life & even teachers laughed at me Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A SON whose mum left her family to marry a Masai warrior she met on holiday revealed it destroyed his childhood. Cheryl Thomasgood, then 34, jetted away from her second husband and three children to marry Daniel Lekimencho weeks after meeting him in Kenya. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 Cheryl Thomasgood, then 34, left her second husband and three children behind to marry Daniel Lekimencho Credit: Solent News 6 The pair married in 1995 before moving to the Isle of Wight Credit: Youtube 6 Chery's son Stevie has broken his silence on his traumatic childhood Credit: Colin Shephard The couple first lay eyes on each other at the Bamburi Beach Hotel in Mombasa. Cheryl quickly traded in her suburban life on the Isle of Wight and relocated with the 6ft 2-inch-tall Kenyan warrior - who was ten years her junior. Her son Stevie Liddington, now 43, has broken his silence on the ordeal in light of his mother's comments earlier this month. She explained how she felt used as a "meal ticket" by the Masai warrior and expressed her regret. But Stevie, who was 11 when Cheryl left, told the Mail he is "ashamed to call her my mother" and "deeply disgusted". "My mother did not just abandon her family in the 1990s – she ruined our childhoods," he said. "She left behind three children, including me, and never looked back in any meaningful or supportive way. "She was never the kind of mother who cared about her children's emotional well-being, and even now, decades later, she continues to show who she truly is by dragging this all up again without a thought for the people it hurts." Stevie has relocated with his wife and children to Seoul, in South Korea, and hasn't spoken to Cheryl in 10 years. He told how his brother moved to Canada, and similarly has little contact with their mum. In harrowing tales, Stevie revealed his childhood had been traumatic before Daniel arrived on the scene. His father, Robert Liddington, had left the home when he was five-years-old, which saw Cheryl spiral into a mental breakdown. Stevie and his younger brother were temporarily placed in foster care after they "saw things no child should ever witness" - including Cheryl holding a knife to her own neck, Stevie claimed. He recalled Cheryl's second husband, Mike Mason, stepping up and giving the family stability. 6 Cheryl and Daniel welcomed a daughter together in 1998 Credit: Solent News 6 The couple went through a messy divorce in 1999 Credit: Youtube 6 Stevie claimed the turbulent relationship led to physical fights Credit: Youtube But their happiness was shattered beyond repair with "one phone call" from Kenya - when Cheryl said she was never coming home. Stevie's trauma only deepened after the case sparked a media frenzy, which he claimed his mother loved to fuel. He said: "At school, classmates brought in newspapers to laugh at me. Teachers stood by or laughed along. I was publicly humiliated. "And where was Cheryl? Chasing cameras. Giving interviews. Writing a book. She didn't ask how we were. She didn't check in. Our family crumbled." He refuted her expressions of regret and said she'd never taken accountability properly. The web designer claimed her comments were filled with lies, including the impression Daniel was loved by the kids. He dubbed Cheryl's relationship with the warrior as "violent" and "chaotic". Cheryl and Daniel welcomed a daughter together, Misti, in 1998. But Stevie said he was often left to look after his half-sister, when Cheryl would go missing for days. He recalled praying his mother was still alive, while walking around the local area for hours searching for her. Stevie revealed Misti and Cheryl are still in contact with each other and there is no bad blood. His brother, who relocated to Canada, also has an on-and-off relationship with Cheryl. But Stevie is insistent he must keep the door closed with "narcissistic" Cheryl - who he slammed should "never have been a mother". CHERYL'S REGRET Cheryl and her new partner made headlines across the globe with people left gobsmacked at her decision to abandon the comfortable middle-class life for a new home and partner in rural Kenya. She traded it in to help the warrior cook, clean and hunt, sleeping on goatskin and surviving on a diet of cow's blood and cabbage in a mud hut. But the bizarre couple eventually to leave Kenya behind returned to the Isle of Wight in 1995. They tied the knot on Valentine's Day, both wearing traditional Masai clothing. But more than three decades later, Cheryl has broken her silence after the marriage fell apart - when she claimed Daniel became obsessed with wealth. She described feeling used as a "meal ticket" in an emotional interview with the MailOnline. "I made a huge mistake, it was very wrong of me, and I have a lot of regrets, especially about how it damaged my children," she said. Cheryl split with Daniel in 1999 just four years after they were married and one year after their daughter was born. Now, 65-year-old Cheryl lives alone in a seaside town in Somerset where she is well known among the local community. She has kept her controversial past hidden from the community with none of her friends aware of the bizarre relationship she once had with the Masai warrior. MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN Cheryl has now told how shortly after arriving in the UK Daniel became obsessed with material things and money. She detailed how Daniel quickly became moody and miserable over the couples lot in life, wanting more money and more possessions, changed by life in the UK. Cheryl recalled the only time Daniel being happy was when the Kenyan warrior was jumping around in the garden doing his traditional Masai dance. She added: "He would say that he was getting ready for battle and wanted to jump as high as an elephant. The kids loved it, but it got on my nerves after a while." Trying to pinpoint what went wrong in the peculiar relationship Cheryl blamed a slew of drastic cultural differences between her and her husband. She reportedly felt that adjusting to life in the UK was too tough for Daniel and his struggles assimilating, combined with the pressure on the pair to make their relationship work, led to the eventual end of their marriage. Cheryl admitted that she suffered sexual abuse as a young girl and spoke about the harrowing difficulties she faced growing up in a dysfunctional London household with alcoholic parents, she was reportedly contemplating suicide at the time she met Daniel. She revealed how she was urged to go on her Kenyan holiday by a friend who was in the same church choir as her, the pair went on the holiday that would change her life forever together. When Cheryl went to Kenya she was at a low point in her life she said, suffering with childhood trauma and stuck in an unhappy marriage to her second husband Mike. She had seen Daniel was an answer to her problems, believing he could help her heal and find peace through spirituality. Cheryl now admits that her love affair with the Masai warrior was just an escape from her problems and not an answer to them. MOVING ON Asked about what she regrets the most about her time with her warrior toy boy, Cheryl said: "The impact all this had on my children. Having a Masai warrior as a father was not easy for them. Daniel was trying his best, but he could never understand the Western ways and couldn't be the dad that they needed." Cheryl said that her children had missed out on having a proper father figure in their lives because of her relationship with Daniel and the break down of her first two marriages. Despite having no contact with Daniel, Cheryl maintained she still has good relationships with all of her children, referring to her daughter Mitsi as "the one good thing" to come out of her and Daniel's strange and difficult marriage. Following the pair's split, Masai warrior Daniel remained on the Isle of Wight where he now works in a supermarket.
