A debt-stricken single mother to a young autistic daughter was baited by an elaborate online scam involving a phony millionaire lottery winner, South West News Service reported.
Dympna McKenna, 47, thought she had been in touch online with a couple who won the EuroMillions lottery in January and wanted to use some of their nearly $77M fortune to help her 10-year-old Dakota have a better life.
“She has sleepless nights with anxiety. I’m always on her bed holding her hand. I can’t work,” the mom from Birmingham, England said.
The full-time caregiver in nearly $9,000 of debt “bared her soul” on Facebook to the presumed couple of Richard and Debbie Nuttall, both 54, through Facebook after being connected through a friend of a friend.
The Nuttalls are a real couple from Lancashire who won the jackpot and had their identities impostered.
Eventually and after being pressed for personal financial information, McKenna became wise that she was part of nothing more than a cruel ruse.
“For new lottery winners, why were they investing so much time into messaging me? You’d be spending your money,” she added.
“How can a person go from being an innocent baby to a monster? It’s disgusting … I’m angry that these people are doing this.”
Now, McKenna is sounding the alarm for others who could fall victim to the scam — one she spotted before it was too late.
“I feel sick for [the victims]. They could be losing thousands.”
Meanwhile, Allwyn, which operates the lottery, is doubling down on issuing caution for fraudulent scams like this.
“We are aware that there are individuals and organizations that attempt to obtain payment or personal details from people under a variety of pretexts,” a spokesperson said, adding that the pretend Nutalls’ Facebook account has been deactivated.
“We would urge people to remember that, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.”
