A woman was scammed into thinking she was dating an actor from Stranger Things and ended up divorcing her husband and sending money to the scammer. The ordeal suffered by McKala, a single mother from Kentucky, was shared on the YouTube show Catfished, where it was revealed she believed she was in a secret online relationship with Australian actor Dacre Montgomery, who plays Billy Hargrove in the Netflix series. Over a year, McKala shared online messages with a person she sincerely believed was Montgomery, despite never having seen or even spoken to him on the phone. McKala, an amateur actress and filmmaker, wanted so desperately to be with “Montgomery” that she filed for divorce from her husband and began sending him gift cards worth thousands of dollars. When she began to question how genuine their relationship was, McKala sought the help of the show Catfished. She explained how she had separated from her “very toxic” husband and joined an online creatives group, where she believes she met and “hit it off” with a user who later claimed to be Montgomery. McKala said: “I’m suspicious from the get-go, until he starts doing things that make me believe he is who he is.” In real life, Montgomery has been in a relationship with the model Liv Pollock since 2017, but McKala claimed the person she was talking to claimed the couple were unhappy and having issues. “He was venting to me after a few months about his partner, saying she is very controlling of him. He doesn’t get to do the things he wants to do. She’s always there. She’s always got to supervise,” she explained, “I kind of empathise with that because my ex-husband was that way.” After exchanging messages online for months, “Montgomery” asked McKala to be his girlfriend, despite the real Montgomery still being with his girlfriend. Victim Divorces Husband For Stranger Things Romance Scammer! www.youtube.com McKala was told that the pair were actually separated, but just keeping up appearances. She was further convinced by their lack of visibility on each other’s social media. She said: “He wasn’t posting about her. She wasn’t posting about him. The only thing that I have seen in the last two years...was a thing where she was posting about their five-year anniversary.” McKala dismissed the Catfished team’s concerns that she hadn’t spoken to him on the phone, arguing that his girlfriend was controlling and always “glued at his hip”. He sent her poetry, told her to watch Stranger Things and gave her an ultimatum between her husband and him. “Before I knew it, it was turning into $100, $200 gift cards,” she explained and estimated that in total she sent him around $10,000 worth. The Catfished team broke the news to McKala that there was no evidence the actor and his girlfriend were broken up, he made $150,000 per episode of Stranger Things and did not need gift cards. Investigations showed the cheque he had sent her was false and taken from the internet and even the lasagna he allegedly made was actually a picture taken from a Martha Stewart recipe. McKala was left heartbroken by the discovery but admitted that she was vulnerable to being taken advantage of by a scammer in this way. She explained: “If you’re someone like me, you’re afraid of abandonment and you’re a real big people pleaser and you’re very co-dependent... These scammers, they just kind of come in and they leech off that.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
A woman was scammed into thinking she was dating an actor from Stranger Things and ended up divorcing her husband and sending money to the scammer.
The ordeal suffered by McKala, a single mother from Kentucky, was shared on the YouTube show Catfished, where it was revealed she believed she was in a secret online relationship with Australian actor Dacre Montgomery, who plays Billy Hargrove in the Netflix series.
Over a year, McKala shared online messages with a person she sincerely believed was Montgomery, despite never having seen or even spoken to him on the phone.
McKala, an amateur actress and filmmaker, wanted so desperately to be with “Montgomery” that she filed for divorce from her husband and began sending him gift cards worth thousands of dollars.
When she began to question how genuine their relationship was, McKala sought the help of the show Catfished.
She explained how she had separated from her “very toxic” husband and joined an online creatives group, where she believes she met and “hit it off” with a user who later claimed to be Montgomery.
McKala said: “I’m suspicious from the get-go, until he starts doing things that make me believe he is who he is.”
In real life, Montgomery has been in a relationship with the model Liv Pollock since 2017, but McKala claimed the person she was talking to claimed the couple were unhappy and having issues.
“He was venting to me after a few months about his partner, saying she is very controlling of him. He doesn’t get to do the things he wants to do. She’s always there. She’s always got to supervise,” she explained, “I kind of empathise with that because my ex-husband was that way.”
After exchanging messages online for months, “Montgomery” asked McKala to be his girlfriend, despite the real Montgomery still being with his girlfriend.
Victim Divorces Husband For Stranger Things Romance Scammer! www.youtube.com
McKala was told that the pair were actually separated, but just keeping up appearances. She was further convinced by their lack of visibility on each other’s social media.
She said: “He wasn’t posting about her. She wasn’t posting about him. The only thing that I have seen in the last two years...was a thing where she was posting about their five-year anniversary.”
McKala dismissed the Catfished team’s concerns that she hadn’t spoken to him on the phone, arguing that his girlfriend was controlling and always “glued at his hip”.
He sent her poetry, told her to watch Stranger Things and gave her an ultimatum between her husband and him.
“Before I knew it, it was turning into $100, $200 gift cards,” she explained and estimated that in total she sent him around $10,000 worth.
The Catfished team broke the news to McKala that there was no evidence the actor and his girlfriend were broken up, he made $150,000 per episode of Stranger Things and did not need gift cards.
Investigations showed the cheque he had sent her was false and taken from the internet and even the lasagna he allegedly made was actually a picture taken from a Martha Stewart recipe.
McKala was left heartbroken by the discovery but admitted that she was vulnerable to being taken advantage of by a scammer in this way.
She explained: “If you’re someone like me, you’re afraid of abandonment and you’re a real big people pleaser and you’re very co-dependent... These scammers, they just kind of come in and they leech off that.”
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
