British woman loses $22,800 to romance scam via Instagram and encrypted messaging platforms over two years

Summary

A British woman, Lisa Nock, was scammed out of $22,800 after being tricked into believing she was in a romantic relationship with a man claiming to be Dr Chris Brown. The scam began on Instagram and continued for over two years. Scammers used AI-generated images and encrypted messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram to maintain the illusion of a genuine relationship. Nock sent money to the scammers through gift cards, Bitcoin, and other crypto methods. The scam ended when the scammers demanded $40 million, claiming Brown had been kidnapped. Nock has since reported the incident to UK police and spoken publicly to warn others about the scam.