My best friend convinced me to quit my job, destroyed my wedding and cost me $88k

A woman has revealed how her best friend convinced her to quit her job, destroyed her wedding and cost her thousands of dollars.

Kim Baker’s new best mate, Helen Dove, couldn’t do enough for her.

She babysat, brought coffees and even scored Kim her dream role in child social services, convincing her to take redundancy from her existing job.

But when her start date was repeatedly moved back, the mum-of-five, from Merseyside in north west England, made the sickening discovery it was all a lie – created by her jealous frenemy.

Helen, 33, cost her friend £50,000 ($A87,985) with the fake job scam leaving Kim, 44, and fiance Phill, 46, unable to afford Christmas presents for their kids and forced to cancel their dream wedding day.

Kim Baker (right) pictured with her former best friend, Helen Dove. Picture: Kim Baker

Here Kim Baker explains how her supposed best friend tried to ruin her:

Helen first approached me on a freezing cold early morning at the stables where I kept my horses.

“I’ve brought you a coffee,” she said.

It was so kind of her. We introduced ourselves properly and soon hit it off.

Helen often offered to help me and Phill, my partner, to muck out and maintain our horses. Afterwards we’d all go for a coffee.

As time went by, Helen became a part of the family. She’d babysit for my kids Shawna, 19, Zach, 18, Kendra, 14, Ellise, 13, and Logan, nine. She even came on holiday with us to Devon.

Life was busy. I was juggling childcare with my managerial telecommunications job at BT, as well as spending the evenings studying for a diploma in childcare. It was my dream to work in children’s safeguarding one day and help vulnerable kids.

I told Helen this one day over a coffee and she revealed she was an adoption worker at a local council.

“I can help you get a foot in the door,” she said. “We are getting ready to hire so I can put in a good word for you. I think you’d be great.”

Work had recently offered me voluntary redundancy after 17 years at the company, so with Phill’s support I decided it was time to follow my dreams.

Helen offered to help Kim and Phill out with babysitting when they needed it. Picture: Kim Baker

Helen brought me an application form to the house, wearing a Warrington Borough Council ID card on a lanyard.

“Fill this in and I’ll hand deliver it to Janet, my manager who is doing the hiring,” she told me.

Days later I received an email from Janet, inviting me to an interview. I prepared thoroughly, but on the morning she cancelled and emailed questions instead.

Answering as best as I could, I soon got a reply. “Congratulations! You’ve got the job.”

I expected to start in a few weeks – as soon as the formalities of paperwork and background checks were complete.

I rang Helen as soon as I got the news. “I couldn’t have done it without you,” I beamed.

Janet asked me for my bank details and ID to set me up on payroll. Now all I needed was a start date.

While I waited, I started wedding planning. Engaged for two years, I had my redundancy money, a new job lined up and free time. So I got stuck into organising.

I asked Helen to be my maid of honour. She came with us to pick our venue and we set a date for June 2019, in a year’s time.

Kim asked Helen to be her maid of honour. Picture: Kim Baker

Still, I was impatient to start work. It had been seven months since I’d accepted the job. I’d swapped dozens of emails with Janet, but there’d been computer failures and meetings cancelled due to the weather.

“Can you ask how long this’ll take?” I asked Helen, frustrated. “This is normal – so many checks they have to do,” she said.

And it was true, I’d been jumping through hoops completing seemingly endless tasks and quizzes I’d been sent by various staff members. I’d even filled in a rota.

With time marching on, my redundancy pay was ebbing away.

“I’m going to have to take another job,” I told Helen. She warned me against it, though.

“Just wait, it will all work out – the council will backdate all of the wages for the months you’ve waited,” she promised. I believed her. I thought she was my friend.

With money tight, Phill and I started arguing but Helen was there to talk things through. I told her how I couldn’t afford to buy my kids Christmas presents and felt under constant stress over our money troubles.

She told me: “It’s awful hearing my best mate so low and I can’t help. It hurts so much to feel so helpless.”

Helen was always there for Kim to talk to. Picture: Supplied

When she started turning up at the house unannounced though, it felt suffocating. One day, I asked her to leave me alone and Phill confronted her with his suspicions.

“Can you prove this job is real?” he probed.

We realised we only had her word for it.

He asked her for a pay slip to prove where she worked. Instead, she sent us a bank statement. It showed her wages listed, but they were in a different font. It looked edited.

Eventually, we went to the council offices and asked after Helen.

“I’m afraid she doesn’t work here,” the clerk told me.

My blood ran cold – surely it was a mistake?

Helen and I were together 24/7. It’s so cruel knowing she was the one hurting me, then watching me break bit by bit.

Phill called Helen. “How long did it take you to fake those statements?” he asked. “It’s fraud and we’re going to the police.”

Soon after, I received an email telling me my new boss had sent my contract by tracked delivery from a local post office. A desperate last attempt to convince me.

Driving to the branch, we asked to see CCTV of who posted it. It was Helen. Only then did I believe my friend was a fake.

Helen was caught on CCTV posting the contract that Kim’s new boss had allegedly sent her from a local post office. Picture: Supplied

It was undeniable but I still couldn’t understand it. Helen hadn’t gained a penny from her scam, while I’d lost thousands.

With the redundancy money I’d spent, plus the wages I’d been banking on, I was down £50,000 (AUD $87,985).

With no job and no backdated wages, I realised we had to cancel the wedding. We couldn’t afford it.

In January 2020, Helen Dove admitted to charges of fraud by false representation at Liverpool Crown Court.

She’d made a fake ID pass and posed as 15 different colleagues to pull off the ruse.

The court heard it had been a misguided attempt at keeping our friendship but I never found out why she started the con. I wondered if she was jealous of our family life.

Helen was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, while I’m still struggling to trust people.

Thankfully it has only made mine and Phill’s relationship stronger. Later this year we hope to book a last minute wedding with our closest friends and family by our side – we keep our circle small these days and that’s how I like it.

This story originally appeared in The Sun and has been reproduced with permission.

Originally published as My best friend convinced me to quit my job, destroyed my wedding and cost me $88k