Liza Jane Lykins never imagined that simply updating her social media profile would change her life forever after the death of her husband of 23 years.
Lykins, a backing singer who has toured with Fleetwood Mac and Linda Ronstadt, was scammed out of more than $1 million in cash and crypto assets by a Nigerian online romance scammer.
For two years, Mr Likins was embroiled in a “very complex scam” by a man claiming to be an Australian gold miner who used stolen photos of his German life coach to woo her online.
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Stevie Nicks' roommate and former backup singer Liza Lykins was scammed out of more than $1 million by a Nigerian scammer. (Liza Jane Lykins)
“I had nothing left. I sold the house,” Lykins told Fox News Digital exclusively. “This scammer was trying to sell me a car, but luckily I was watching the show 'Social Catfish' so he didn't sell me the car.
“At first I wanted to commit suicide because my husband left me in good shape. And after two years with this cheater, I had nothing but my car and the clothes I was wearing.” I didn't have any left and just wanted to end my life. I didn't know what I was going to do.”
Likins added: “I didn't have money to buy food. I didn't have money to pay my utility bills. My electricity was cut off twice. I lost 40 pounds. I got COVID-19. I didn't have money to go to the doctor. There wasn't,” he added. I mean, I was in really, really serious trouble. ”
Her problems with scammers started shortly after she made a small change to her social media accounts.
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“When my husband died, I wrote on my Facebook profile that I was a widow. That was a big mistake,” Lykins said. “It's like putting up a sign on yourself that says scam bait. That's how it all started.”
Lykins sang with Linda Ronstadt (right) for many years and was roommates with Stevie Nicks (left). (Liza Lykins)
Lykins recalled that the scammer was a “perfect gentleman” during their first online conversation, and even though she wasn't interested in anything romantic yet, he dated her “every day for six months.” He said he was writing a letter to her.
“When my husband died, I wrote on my Facebook profile that I was a widow. It was a big mistake. It's like putting a sign on yourself that says it's bait for a scam.”
“One day he sent me pictures, and each one had a complicated, intricate story,” she recalled. “All the photos were stolen from a German life coach's public site on Facebook. One day he sent me a photo of himself, probably next to a Buddha statue. When I received that photo, that was it. I thought, “Okay, this person might be okay.''
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Little did Lykins know that the web of lies had already begun. She was told that her online suitor was a gold mine manager and was currently in the Australian outback with a team of 20 people on his last job before retiring.
He was running out of time for the expedition and had already lost $8,000. To make matters worse, if they want to communicate, she has to send him $1,000 and cryptocurrency. That way we can buy proper Wi-Fi for him to use his phone so we can stay in touch while he works in Australia.
Lykins claimed that they communicated on Facetime in a “very sophisticated” manner using audio equipment to match the video component. When the video element “stopped,” the scammer said, “I can't hear you anymore. Let's go back to texting.”
Lykins began talking to romantic suitors after changing her Facebook profile to “widow.” (Liza Lykins)
Although each financial request became more complex and intricate, Likins remained captivated by the scammer. The scammer showed off a 24-carat gold bar and asked for her home address so he could safely send a safe full of $100 bills to her home.
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“I have a video of this purple helicopter taking off,” Likins said of one extravagant project. “I checked the specifications, address, email address, phone number, everything. Then I received an email saying this safe was on its way to be delivered to my home address.
“The scammer told me I could get it within three days if I upgraded the shipping rate with my logistics company, so I did. That was my first really big amount of money.”
Nothing was delivered to her house.
“I went to the airport four times to pick this person up because they would send me a picture of the name on the boarding pass arriving at a certain date and time,” Likins said. “I go to the airport and of course…the flight didn't exist and neither did he.”
The TV show “Social Catfish” helped her realize she was being scammed. (Liza Lykins)
The scam ended by chance when Lykins tuned into a TV show called “Social Catfish.” She saw a story similar to hers unfold on TV and within minutes of the show starting she was “in a state of shock” and wrote a letter to the producers asking them to contact her.
Through research, “Social Catfish” (a company that uses AI reverse lookup technology to verify online identities) has discovered the scammer's true identity.
“I go to the airport and of course…the flight didn't exist and neither did he.”
Despite losing everything, Lykins found strength in an unexpected person and made contact with the real person in the photo sent by the scammer.
“After all, the reason there was a picture of him and Buddha is because he is a German spiritual and business life coach,” Likins said. “He's like the German version of Tony Robbins.”
She went on to say, “He started doing everything he could to advise me on how to heal myself, reminding me to love myself, forgive myself, and keep living.'' All I had to do was tell my story to help others.” Don't let people like me get scammed. ”
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