Associated Incidents
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.”
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.
“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.
Paul Davis was scammed out of roughly $270 he thought he sent to Jennifer Aniston. Daily Echo/Solent News
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.”
Davis received AI-generated videos of Aniston saying she loved him. Daily Echo/Solent News
He finally learned his lesson, he said, after getting fleeced by the fake Aniston.
“I got bitten,” Davis said. “Once bitten, twice shy.”