A disabled woman was left £11,000 out of pocket after falling victim to a romance scammer posing as a TV vet on Instagram. Lisa Nock, 44, was deceived by a fake account purporting to be Australian vet Dr Chris Brown, from the popular TV series Bondi Vet. The scammer showered her with affection, even proposing, and convinced her to transfer money for flights and visas so he could visit her in the UK. Over 18 months, Lisa sent a total of £11,000, mostly from her Disability Living Allowance, through multiple cryptocurrency wallets, with the largest single payment being £7,000.
As a result, she had to forgo her Taekwondo and swimming lessons. However, Lisa, from Staffordshire, eventually discovered the scam and severed ties with the fraudster in January, reporting the incident to the police and Action Fraud, who are now investigating. Lisa, who is unable to work, said: “I thought it was real at the time.
“Although they were flirty at the beginning, we were talking for six months before money was mentioned.”, reports Birmingham Live. They knew I was disabled, had limited funds and they exploited that entirely. Didn’t have a lot financially and now I’ve been left with nothing.
“I’m sharing my story to help warn others, especially those that are vulnerable like me. I never thought something like this would happen to me- until it was too late.” Lisa recounted her ordeal after she reached out to an Instagram profile she believed belonged to the real ‘Dr Chris’ in September 2022, only to receive an immediate reply.
Stay updated with the day’s most vital headlines by subscribing to BirminghamLive’s newsletter right here. She revealed: “I felt very excited because I wasn’t expecting a response.” The conversation shifted from casual banter about loved ones to being flirtatious and escalated to what Lisa termed as ‘love bombing.’
Describing her feelings, Lisa mentioned: “I wasn’t looking for something like that but I liked the friendship side of it.” By November, the deceiver had declared his ‘love’ for her and stated he wished to visit her in the UK, asking for £2,000 to cover flight costs. Overwhelmed by emotions, Lisa admitted: “I lost myself in it and believed that he loved me.”
Driven by the urge to meet him, she confessed: “I wanted to see him so much, I started going without things like Taekwondo and swimming lessons to transfer the money.” In April 2023, in the grips of this scam, Lisa sent £2,000 to a PayPal account.
The con artist managed to convince Lisa to part with another £7,000 to cover the cost of hiring a temporary replacement for Bondi Vet during his supposed trip to the UK. He even set her up with a cryptocurrency wallet, which is secured with a private key, leading Lisa to transfer an additional £2,000 in crypto before she reached her limit in December 2024, admitting she ‘couldn’t do it anymore’ as her finances were drained.
The scammer then cut off contact, leaving Lisa in the lurch. Growing suspicious, Lisa realised the emails came from personal Yahoo accounts rather than official vet business addresses and alerted the police in January. Lisa expressed her despair: “I’m not hopeful that I’ll get any money back. They are sneaky and clever – they really fooled me.”
She continued, sharing her feelings of betrayal: “I feel humiliated and let down. Looking back, there were red flags, such as I never spoke to this person over the phone or FaceTime. I stopped buying certain things and going out with my friend so I could put aside some of my disability allowance. How can people be so cruel. To this day, I don’t know who I was talking to for a year and a half which is scary. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I have and I hope the real Dr Chris knows I’m still a fan.”