Emmerdale fans have been conned out of thousands of pounds thanks to scammers posing as stars from the show, including Cain Dingle actor Jeff Hordley.
An investigation by ITV’s Tonight has revealed that cruel scammers are using increasingly inventive and sophisticated ways to trick unsuspecting people into handing over their cash. Often with the help of AI technology that means they can pose as soap stars.
In an episode that airs tonight (Thursday March 13), ITV’s Alex Beresford reveals the shocking scale of the issue.
It’s estimated that eight million scam videos will be shared this year online but only 1 in 10 adults in Britain feel confident they’d be able to tell the difference between a fake and the real thing.
Romance scams
One unsuspecting Emmerdale fan fell victim to not one but two romance scams involving tricksters posing as actors from the show.
The daughter of the victim appears in ITV’s Tonight, talking about how traumatic it has been for her family. She wanted to remain anonymous so she’s known as Kirsty in the show.
In 2023 Kirsty’s mum was contacted by someone she thought was the Emmerdale actor Tony Audenshaw (who plays Bob Hope).
And it wasn’t long before Kirsty noticed a big change in her mum’s behaviour.
Tricked by someone posing as Cain Dingle actor Jeff Hordley
“I drove round to her house and there were some suitcases in the hallway, she told me that she’d fallen in love with somebody, he’s on Emmerdale,” Kirsty explains in the show. “I immediately got suspicious, she said he’s my soul mate, I know him really well.”
Kirsty’s mum was buying gift cards for the scammer, and eventually admitted she’d spent almost £20,000.
“It was £100 to £200 pounds at a time,” Kirsty says. “By December, it was £300 pounds a day. I asked ‘how much have you sent?’ She said ‘I think about 15,000 pounds’. I just gave her a big hug and said ‘it’s not true, you’ve been scammed’.”
Not giving up
Luckily, Kirsty managed to get some of her mum’s money back. But it was just a year later when she noticed again that her mum was spending a lot of money in a short time.
“I phoned her and the first thing she said was: ‘it’s not a scam, he sent me videos of himself this time’.”
This time, Kirsty’s mum was communicating with a scammer who was posing as Cain Dingle actor Jeff Hordley. The fraudsters had managed to manipulate a video of Jeff using AI technology, so they could tailor his words and fool Kirsty’s mum.
Kirsty said “Mum felt really humiliated, she’s grieving really, it’s the loss of not just money, it’s the loss of what she thought was a relationship as well.”
There are many fake profiles of Emmerdale stars online. The team at Tonight found 90 profiles posing as Jeff Hordley!
Fake diet pills – and more!
And it’s not just romance scams that are doing the rounds. Another Emmerdale star, Lisa Riley, who plays Mandy Dingle, is also concerned about fraud. She told Tonight that she has a daily battle to prevent scammers using her image online to sell fake diet pills.
“They start talking under a fake account commenting on the storyline telling someone you’re beautiful, you’re gorgeous. And I’ll step in and say he’s not real! And this is happening more and more, they’re hunting vulnerable women,” says Lisa.
Coronation Street’s Dan Brocklebank agrees. “It’s happened so many times, people set up what they call my personal account or my official account and start to message people, and they’re being conned out of thousands of pounds,” he says.
Celebrity Scams: Are You At Risk? – Tonight On ITV1 & ITVX at 8.30pm on Thursday 13th March
Read more: Who’s leaving Emmerdale? All the cast exits, arrivals and returns
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm, with an early release on ITVX at 7am.
Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.
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