The woman, whose pseudonym is ‘Jane’, does not want her photo or real name in the press, but she does tell her story to warn others. She says she feels miserable and doesn’t understand why she was so gullible.
Her story began last summer, when she was contacted on social media by an account named Jason Momoa. A name that rings a bell for many, including women, because Momoa is a Hollywood star. You may know him from popular films like Aquaman. The two had a long conversation via Facebook Messenger. “He asked me if I knew him from the movies and I answered yes. Then he asked me to switch to WhatsApp because it is encrypted and more secure. He asked to chat that way because he is famous and paparazzi could read… Everything looked lifelike on his account.”
‘Jason Momoa’ constantly asked the woman for money. © Nina Prommer
Soon, Jane was also talking to people posing as Jason Momoa’s agent, lawyer, bank representatives, and even daughter. “All probably the same person, just to manipulate me, and I fell for it.”
Flight and gift costs
While communicating with the scammer(s), the woman felt that she was developing a “romantic relationship” with the Aquaman-star. Every day there was contact with someone from his entourage. “Then ‘Jason’ suggested we meet him, but that cost money because I had to pay for his flight. At first he was going to do it himself, but he postponed it. I really wanted to see him and paid for the tickets myself. Then he needed money for his daughter who deserved a present. They kept making excuses so that I would pay.”
The scammers went to great lengths. “Jason claimed that his ex-wife was after their house. He needed a marriage certificate that would show that Momoa and I were in a real relationship. This was the only way he could keep the house for himself. I paid again, but became suspicious. I had already lost 24,000 euros by then. “You are the rich celebrity,” I said. “Why should I still pay?”
Brainwashed
At that point, the scammers “promised” that they would give Jane her money back, but that she would have to send more money to release the other money. The woman was constantly bombarded to deposit money and was taught not to say anything to others. When the woman was broke and the scammers said they were coming to her home in England, the woman went to the police, where it turned out she had been scammed. The chance of getting part of the money back remains small.
The woman calls what happened to her an “incredibly hard lesson.” She says she is sharing her story “to prevent anyone else from experiencing this.” Jason Momoa himself has not yet commented on the incident.
A French woman lost a lot of money to ‘Brad Pitt’ in 2023. More recently there was another story like this with a fake Leonardo DiCaprio as the scammer. © TORU YAMANAKA
The story is very similar to that of Anne Deneuchatel, the French woman who was cheated of hundreds of thousands of euros in 2023 by someone posing as Brad Pitt. In the meantime, other such stories have emerged, each with a different celebrity as a lure.