Associated Incidents
An American woman had a long-distance relationship with “Virgin River” star Martin Henderson for two years — or so she thought.
The 47-year-old woman with the pseudonym Lea spoke about the scam in a Feb. 7 interview with the New Zealand Herald.
She claimed that after posting on a fan page for the Netflix show, she received a message from a person claiming they were Henderson’s agent, who put her in contact with who she thought was the 50-year-old actor.
“We hit it off immediately and talked about favourite foods and common interests,” said Lea, claiming the two talked over WeChat and Telegram.
The scammer, according to Lea, sent her voice messages in Henderson’s AI-doctored voice with promises that they’d be together soon.
Come December 2024, Lea allegedly moved to New Zealand under the pretense that she was going to marry Henderson.
“He told me he wanted to leave the acting world and live a quiet life in New Zealand with me — we planned marriage and three children,” she shared.
Lea said she was supposed to pick the star up from Auckland Airport on New Year’s Eve, but the scammer told her that he allegedly was hospitalized during filming in South Africa.
Martin Henderson in a selfie. martinhenderson/Instagram
However, Lea’s friend allegedly sent her a Herald article about Henderson’s philanthropic mission in Matakana, New Zealand, that exposed discrepancies in the scammer’s story.
“I thought, ‘What is Martin doing in New Zealand in Matakana on a bike rally when he told me he was lying in a hospital bed in Johannesburg after a mild heart attack?'” said Lea.
But by that point, Lea allegedly already spent more than $375,000 in purchases for “Henderson” due to the scheme.
Lea said she paid $10K to bail him out of jail, $5K for a commercial flight for his trip back to New Zealand, $30K for a private jet from South Africa, $56K for fake invoices for a box that didn’t exist, $12K in gift cards and $5K in bitcoin transfers. She also allegedly bought the scammer 25 MacBooks so he could “set up a new business.”
“My head is all over the place and I felt very foolish having opened my heart,” Lea said.
The Post has reached out to Henderson’s rep for comment.
Lea’s alleged story is similar to the French woman who was suckered out of $850,000 by a Brad Pitt AI impersonator.
The victim, a 53-year-old interior designer named Anne, claimed a scammer tricked her into thinking she was in a relationship with the “Fight Club” actor, 61.
Pitt’s rep spoke out about the scam in a statement to Variety last month.
“It’s awful that scammers take advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities. This is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited online messages, especially from actors who are not present on social networks,” the rep said.