A British woman has opened up to The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick about how she was scammed out of $22,000 – her life savings – by a social media fraudster posing as TV vet Dr Chris Brown.

Lisa told Fifi, Fev & Nick she believed she was in a relationship with Brown for over two years after an innocent Instagram message turned into a long-running WhatsApp exchange with an impersonator, who ultimately convinced her to send thousands of dollars under false pretences, including a fake hospital bill and a fee to meet him in person.

Lisa’s story is a cautionary tale as her romance with Dr Chris Brown was no more than a scam.

Lisa said “Out of the blue I was browsing through Instagram, and I was a fan of Bondi Vet but not really a big fan. I sent a message on (his post) saying, ‘Keep up the good work, those animals need you.’ All of a sudden, out of the blue, from the same profile with a blue tick beside it, (came a message) saying, ‘How long have you been a fan?’”

“It all started perfectly innocent, and then he took me over to WhatsApp on a +68 number. He said, ‘Honey, I need your assistance. I need $12,000 to get me out of hospital’, because he was in Africa at the time checking on animals over there. He said he was stuck in Africa, and he wanted me to sponsor him every week. I said, ‘I don’t much of an income but I can sponsor you about 20 British pounds a week but that’s it’, and I carried on doing that until December 2022.

“He was supposed to come over here for a meet-and-greet but he cancelled it. Apparently, I had to pay $2,000 for a meet-and-greet, and I’m thinking, ‘Why should I have to pay someone who’s asked me to marry him?’”

Listen to Fifi, Fev & Nick on Melbourne’s 101.9 The Fox from 6-9am weekdays, also on LiSTNR.