An American woman lost more than $375,000 after being tricked into thinking that she was in a relationship with Virgin River actor Martin Henderson.
The 47-year-old woman, named Lea, spoke about the scam in an interview with The New Zealand Herald that was published on Friday, February 7. She told the outlet that she believed it was Henderson, 50, with whom she’d communicated over a two-year-period, even moving to New Zealand in December 2024 to be closer to him.
Lea claimed she was led to believe that the pair would get married, and was supposed to pick up Henderson from Auckland Airport on New Year’s Eve — but the scammer pretending to be the actor sent Lea a message instead that alleged he’d suffered a health scare in South Africa where he’d been filming on location.
That same day, Lea’s friend sent her a Herald story about Henderson’s philanthropic mission in the town of Matakana. He was photographed in good health, standing next to a bicycle as part of an effort to raise money for a new bike path in the area.
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“I thought, ‘What is Martin doing in New Zealand in Matakana on a bike rally when he told me he was lying in a hospital bed in Johannesburg after a mild heart attack?’” Lea told the outlet.
“My head is all over the place and I felt very foolish having opened my heart,” she said, adding, “I was severely manipulated during some very traumatic events in my life.”
Lea and the scammer first made contact when she posted on a Virgin River fan page. She “left a message and received a message from his agent saying Martin liked my comments and would like to message me,” she recalled. “We hit it off immediately and talked about favorite foods and common interests.”
The real Henderson, who plays Jack Sheridan on the hit Netflix drama, shared a post via Instagram last year that warned his followers of scams on such fansites and asked them to ignore imposters posing as him. According to the Herald, Lea’s scammer reassured her that he was Henderson. She shared personal details of her life with him, and in return, the scammer used AI to leave voicemails expressing his love for her.
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“He told me he wanted to leave the acting world and live a quiet life in New Zealand with me — we planned marriage and three children,” Lea claimed.
The scammer also asked for money, and Lea transferred $30,000 to pay for a private jet to fly him from South Africa. The fake Henderson then said the flight was canceled because he was in jail after breaking a contract. Lea then allegedly paid $10,000 to bail him out of jail and $5,000 for a commercial fight to bring him back to New Zealand. She claims to have forwarded $12,000 for gift cards as well as many Bitcoin transfers worth $5,000 each. She also bought 25 Macbooks so he could “set up a new business,” Lea alleged.
Meanwhile, when Lea flew thousands of miles to meet and marry Henderson, she could only afford a seat in coach.
She had previously paid thousands of dollars to ship a box from New Zealand to China, where she worked, that allegedly contained a diamond ring and Rolex watches. A bank closed Lea’s longtime account after her activity raised alarms of money laundering.
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Us Weekly has reached out to Henderson for comment.
The scam that affected Lea is part of a recent trend of imposters posing as celebrities and preying upon vulnerable fans. Last month, a scammer conned a French woman out of more than $800,000 by claiming to be Brad Pitt and making her believe the two were in a romantic relationship.
“It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities,” a spokesperson for Pitt said in a statement at the time. “But this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.”
