US woman leaves husband for a ‘Netflix star’ she sent $15K

A United States woman has revealed she left her husband for a man she believed to be an Australian Netflix star, saying she sent him $15K.

US woman believed she was in a relationship with Dacre Montgomery. Picture: YouTube/Catfished

A hopeful romantic filed for divorce after matching online with a man she believed to be a famous actor – and even transferred him close to $A16,000.

McKala, from the US, believed she had matched with Aussie Dacre Montgomery, the star best known for playing Billy in Stranger Things.

She said the two met online a little over a year ago on a forum and their relationship even led McKala to divorce her now ex-husband, The Sun reported.

But after transferring the 28-year-old “star” $A15,700 despite never having met him, McKala began to have her doubts.

Desperate to find out the truth, she reached out to Catfished, a YouTube channel dedicated to shed light on intricate scams on the internet.

McKala believed she was in a relationship with a Stranger Things star. Picture: YouTube/Catfished

Sharing the story on YouTube, McKala claimed the pair first came into contact on an artist-dedicated forum, where he was hiding under a username.

But after some chatting, the mum came to believe it was Montgomery – one of her favourite actors – and the duo immediately “hit it off’’.

A year passed and although they never saw each other in person, the Australian celeb asked McKala to be his girlfriend.

“He was like, ‘But you gotta keep it quiet because, you know, I’m still with Liv [Pollock his real life partner]’,’’ the woman explained in the video.

His Instagram, she said, too, didn’t have any romantic snaps of the couple together, leading McKala to think it was indeed the real Dacre.

“He wasn’t posting about her, she wasn’t posting about him. The only thing that I have seen was a thing where she was posting about their five year anniversary,’’ she said.

At some point, the star then gave her an ultimatum – either him or her husband – and within seconds, the decision was clear, and McKala opted for Dacre.

US woman believed she was in a relationship with Dacre Montgomery. Picture: YouTube/Catfished

Before she knew it, the star was asking her for financial help and the single mum found herself having sent him money.

The team at Catfished, however, were convinced something was not adding up, as they pointed out numerous red flags.

As well believing that Dacre simply did not need extra money from McKala – he was banking almost $236K for every episode of the Netflix cult favourite series – there was no evidence to suggest he had ever split from his real-life girlfriend Liv.

The two were constantly appearing on TV shows, the red carpet and interviews together.

The cheque that had been sent to McKala during the scam also, sadly, turned to be a fraud – the Catfished team tracked down hundreds of cheques online with the exact same signature.

She sent $15K to the account. Picture: YouTube/Catfished

Even a snap of a lasagne the actor had allegedly cooked was ripped from the internet – a popular recipe posted by a foodie.

After learning the unfortunate truth behind the fake relationship she had established with the catfish, the mum said: “Love makes you do stupid, irrational things.

“If you’re someone like me, you’re afraid of abandonment and you’re a real big people pleaser.

“These scammers, they just kind of come in and they leech off that.”

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