'I lost £11k to Instagram scammer who pretended to be TV Bondi Vet star and proposed'

A disabled woman lost £11,000 to an cryptocurrency romance scammer who posed as an Australian TV vet. Superfan Lisa Nock, 44, was drawn in by a "fake but convincing" Instagram account of Dr Chris Brown, best known for the television series Bondi Vet.

Lisa contacted the account, thinking she was talking to the real vet, before the conversation turned "romantic" and the fraudster began "love bombing" Lisa, even proposing to her. The woman thought they were in a relationship so she agreed to transfer the fraudster money for and visas to visit her in the UK. The scam saw Lisa transferring the fraudster a total of £11,000 through multiple wallets over a year-and-a-half, with the biggest single payment being £7,000.

The funds were largely sourced from Lisa's disability allowance, meaning she went without Taekwondo and swimming lessons to fund the con. Eventually realising that she was being scammed, she cut ties with the fraudster in January 2025 and reported them to who reported it to Action Fraud. An investigation is reportedly ongoing.

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Lisa, who cannot work, from Staffordshire, West Midlands, said she had been talking with the scammer for six months before money was mentioned. She said they "exploited" her disability and financial situation, leaving her with nothing.

She said: "I'm sharing my story to help warn others, especially those that are vulnerable like me. I never thought something like this would happen to me- until it was too late."

The woman contacted the account in September 2022, with the user responding immediately. The pair then began communication before exchanging numbers and messaging on .

Lisa said she felt "very excited" when she got a response from who she believed was Dr Chris. She added that she was not looking for something romantic but enjoy the friendship side of the relationship.

She said: "Our chat started friendly, talking about family and friends but then it soon turned flirty, and then the love bombing started."

By November, the scammer pretending to be Dr Chris said that he "loved "Lisa and claimed he would come and visit her in the UK, but needed £2,000 for flights. Lisa said: "I lost myself in it and believed that he loved me."

On 23 April 2023, Lisa transferred £2,000 to an account via PayPal. The scammer then persuaded Lisa to transfer another £7,000 to pay for a temporary hire to take over Bondi Vet while he visited her in the UK. He set her up with a cryptocurrency wallet, where holdings are only accessible by using a private key,

Lisa transferred a further £2,000 in cryptocurrency payments before saying she "couldn't do it anymore" in December 2024 because she could no longer afford it financially. The fraudster didn't follow up with her and their communication ended for good. The woman started to suspect the whole thing was a scam when she noticed the different emails were personal Yahoo emails and not official business emails from the vet.

The woman went to West Midlands Police on January 31 2025. She was then told her case had been passed on to Action Fraud and she is still awaiting an update. Lisa said she felt "humiliated and let down" by the incident, saying she was not hopeful that she would get any money back.

She said: "Looking back, there were red flags, such as I never spoke to this person over the phone or FaceTime. I stopped buying certain things and going out with my friend so I could put aside some of my disability allowance. How can people be so cruel."

She added: "To this day, I don't know who I was talking to for a year and a half which is scary. I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I have and I hope the real Dr Chris knows I'm still a fan."