Caroline van Eck (47) from Bergen op Zoom wants to warn people. She was scammed by someone who occurred as the famous actor Leonardo DiCaprio. They had a nice contact on Instagram and found each other in their struggle for a better environment. When he asked for money for his charity projects, she supported them. Only eight months later did she realize that she was scammed hard.
If she thinks back to it now, she can hit herself in front of her head. “How could I be so blind and naive? But five years ago, when this happened, I was not yet aware of this kind of scams. Moreover, he played very well on my emotions.”
“He told me I had such beautiful eyes.”
Caroline, who grew up in Kruiningen in Zeeland, calls herself sober. Yet five years ago she was sensitive to the attention and the listening ear that ‘Leonardo DiCaprio’ offered. “He asked how it went, what I had eaten, what time I had to go to work … Gradually the conversations became more personal. He was very interested and romantic. That I had such beautiful eyes and at one point that he loved me.”
It was coronation time and Caroline was at home a lot. “I became isolated and was more on social media. Then you quickly build a bond. It is a kind of emotional manipulation.”
“I got more and more knot in my stomach.”
Caroline did not transfer money through the bank, but was asked to buy gift cards. She passed on the codes that stood on it. It concerned credits of fifty, hundred, 150 and five hundred euros. “With that I thought to support his charities, such as children with cancer in an orphanage.”
In the end, Caroline was invited to one Meet and Greet With Leonardo DiCaprio. “On Valentine’s Day we would meet. I would be picked up with his private jet to fly to America. I had to pay 1850 euros for the expenses.”
Afterwards, Caroline realizes that she was quite vulnerable at that time. “In the beginning I didn’t talk to anyone about it, but as I lost more money, I got more and more a knot in my stomach. Then I started talking to friends and looked further than my nose was long.”
“I sought help from a psychologist.”
Caroline lost a total of five thousand euros, all her savings. Slowly it started that she was scammed and that it was not Leonardo DiCaprio with whom she exchanged messages every day. “I stopped giving money and then came the blackmail. I had sent spicy photos. He threatened to send them to friends. I thought: he didn’t. But he did.”
Caroline then went to the police. There they listened to her and referred her to auxiliary agencies, but they also said she could not do much. “People from Nigeria were found to be behind the scams.” In the end, Caroline tells her story frankly and extensively Omroep Zeeland.
In addition to the fact that Caroline is five thousand euros lighter, the whole event had emotional impact on her. “I sought help from a psychologist. Although I am quite sober in nature, this happened to me. I am now rid of all social media.”
There is also shame. “Everyone says: how stupid can you be? They are right, but if you are in the middle of it, it is realistic. Some reactions are very hard, I can sometimes suffer from that. I don’t wish anyone.”
“This can happen to anyone.”
Although Caroline is now doing better, she is reminded of what happened to her by stories in the media of others that have been scammed online. “That is the reason that I put my shame aside and share my story. It can happen to anyone. To people who are now here, I would like to say: talk, seek help. Life is here and now and not in the digital world.”
In 2024, more than thirty reports were received in the Fraudhelpdesk about dating fraud with celebrities, a total of more than 145,000 euros was captured by scammers who are spending on social media for Max Verstappen, André Rieu or Mark Rutte
Tanya Wijngaarde of the Fraud Help Desk suspects that there are many more victims of dating fraud with a celebritybut that many people don’t report that. “There is a lot of shame, people often judge hard. But we never find people stupid. Scammers make a lot of trouble taking you in their fake world. It is not that you get a phone call from Leonardo DiCaprio who says:” Make money over. ” Such a process often takes months. “
The fraud help desk helps victims, but also their loved ones. It is sometimes difficult for family to penetrate the one who is being scammed. “For example, you could call the fan club of a celebrity to ask if it is possible that there is contact with the person. Make sure that you meet physically in a public place as quickly as possible, so you know that someone really exists. And never give money to someone you have never seen before.”