Little did Lisa Jane Likens know that a simple update to her social media profile after her husband of 23 years died would change her life forever.
Likens, a backup singer who toured with Fleetwood Mac and Linda Ronstadt, fell victim to a Nigerian online romance scammer and were conned out of over $1 million in cash and crypto funds.
Over the course of two years, Likens was involved in a “highly sophisticated scam” by a man who claimed to be an Australian gold miner and who engaged her online with stolen photos of a German life coach.
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Lisa Likens, Stevie Nicks' roommate and former backup singer, was conned out of more than $1 million by a Nigerian scammer. (Lisa Jane Likens)
“I have nothing left. I sold my house,” Likens exclusively told Fox News Digital. “This scammer wanted me to sell my car, but fortunately that was when I watched the 'Social Catfish' show, so I didn't sell my car.
“I wanted to kill myself at first, because my husband left me so well, and after two years with this crook, I had nothing left but my car and my clothes and I just wanted to end my life. I didn't know what I would do.”
“I didn't have money to buy food. I didn't have money to pay utility bills. My house lost power twice. I lost 40 pounds. I got COVID. I didn't have money to buy a doctor,” Likens added. I mean I was really in deep trouble.”
Her problem with the imposter started immediately after a simple change Social media account.
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“When my husband died, I… Facebook profileI put that out there… I'm now a widow. “Big mistake. That's like putting a sign on yourself saying it's a scam bait. That's how it all started,” Likens said.
Likens sang for years with Linda Ronstadt (right) and was roommates with Stevie Nicks (left). (Lisa Likens)
Likens recalled the scammer being a “perfect gentleman” in their initial online conversations, and said that although she was not interested in anything romantic yet, he had been writing to her “every day for six months.”
“When my husband died, I wrote on my personal Facebook page that I was now a widow. Big mistake. This is like putting a label on yourself that says scam bait.”
“One day he sent me pictures, and each picture had a complex, complicated story,” she recalled. “All the photos were stolen from a German life coach's public Facebook site. One day, he sent me a photo of himself, apparently, next to a Buddha statue, and that's what happened when I got that photo. I thought, 'Well, this person might be on… “It's okay.”
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Likens had no idea that the web of lies had already begun. She was told her online fiancé was a gold mine manager, currently in the Australian outback with a team of 20 men on his last job before retirement.
Time was running out on the expedition, and it was already $8,000 in the hole. To make matters worse, if they wanted to communicate, she would have to send him $1,000 and cryptocurrency so he could buy a suitable Wi-Fi network to use on his phone so they could stay in touch while he worked in Australia.
The Likins claimed they spoke via Facetime through a “very sophisticated” method using audio equipment matched with video components. When the video elements “stop”, the scammer says, “I can't hear you anymore, let's get back to texting.”
Likins started talking to a romantic suitor after changing her Facebook profile to “widow.” (Lisa Likens)
Each request for money became more complex and confusing, but Likens was still hooked to the scammer, who showed 24-karat gold bars and asked for her home address so he could securely send a safe full of bundled $100 bills to her home.
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“I have a video of this purple helicopter taking off,” Likens said of one extravagant scheme. “I checked all the specifications, address, email, phone number, everything was checked. They sent me emails saying they were going to deliver this safe to my home address.
“The scammer said if I was going to upgrade my logistics company's shipping services, I would get it within three days. And I did. That was my first really big amount of money.”
Nothing was ever delivered to her home.
“I went to the airport four different times to pick up this guy, because he was sending me pictures with his name on the boarding pass arriving at a certain day and time,” Likens said. “I was going to go to the airport, and of course…that flight wasn't there, and neither was he.”
The TV show “Social Catfish” helped her realize that she had been scammed. (Lisa Likens)
The scam ended by accident when Likins seized a file TV show It's called a “social catfish.” She was “shocked” within minutes of the program after seeing a story similar to hers on television, and wrote to the producers asking to be contacted.
Through research, “Social Catfish” (a company that verifies online identities through AI reverse lookup technology) discovered the true identity of the fraudster.
“I was going to go to the airport, and of course… that flight wasn't there, and neither was he.”
Despite losing everything, Likens found strength in an unexpected person and connected with the real person in the photos the scammer sent her.
“As it turns out, the reason there is a picture of him with Buddha is because he is a German spiritual and business coach,” Leekins said. “It's like the German version of Tony Robbins.“
She added: “He started doing everything he could to advise me on how to heal myself and remind me to love myself, forgive myself and move on with life. What I had to do was tell my story to help others.” That other people like me don't get scammed.”
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