Little did Liza Jane Likins know that a simple update on her social media profile after the death of her husband of 23 years would change her life forever.
Likins, a backup singer who toured with Fleetwood Mac and Linda Ronstadt, fell victim to a Nigerian dating scam and was bilked out of more than $1 million in cash and crypto currency.
Within two years, Likins became involved in a “sophisticated scam” by a man who claimed to work in an Australian gold mine and who lured him online with stolen photos of a German health coach.
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Liza Likins, Stevie Nicks’ roommate and former backup singer, was defrauded of more than $1 million by a Nigerian fraudster. (Liza Jane Likins)
“I had nothing left. I sold my house,” Likins told Fox News Digital exclusively. “This scam wanted me to sell my car, luckily that’s when I saw the Social Catfish program, I didn’t sell my car.
“I wanted to kill myself at first, because my husband left me in a very good situation, and after two years with this cheater, I had nothing left but my car and my clothes and I wanted to kill myself. I didn’t know what to do.”
Likins added, “I didn’t have money for food, I didn’t have money to pay my utilities. My electricity went out twice. I lost 40 pounds, I got Covid, I didn’t have money for a doctor. I mean I was in really deep trouble.”
Her problem with a cheater started immediately after one small change in her social media account.
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“When my husband died, on my Facebook page, I posted that … I was a widow. Big mistake,” Likins said. “That’s like branding yourself a scam. That’s how it started.”
Likins sang for years with Linda Ronstadt (right) and lived with Stevie Nicks (left). (Liza Likins)
Likins recalled that the cheater was a “nice guy” in their first online chats, and said that while he wasn’t interested in any kind of romance at the moment, he texted her “every day for six months.”
“When my husband died, on my Facebook page, I put there that … I was a widow. It’s a big mistake. That’s like branding yourself as a fraud.”
“One day he sent me pictures, each picture had a complicated story behind it,” he recalled. “All the pictures were stolen from a German life coach’s public Facebook page. One day, he sent me a picture of himself, supposedly, next to a Buddha statue, and he did that when I found that picture. I thought, ” ‘Okay, maybe this person is good.’
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Little did Likins know that a web of lies had already begun. She was told that her online lover is a gold mine manager, and he is currently in the Australian outback with a group of 20 men on his last job before retirement.
He was running out of time on the tour, and was already $8,000 in the hole. To make matters worse, if they wanted to communicate, she would have to send him $1,000 and cryptocurrency so he could buy proper Wi-Fi to use his phone to keep in touch while he was working in Australia.
Likins said they talk on Facetime in a “very sophisticated way” using audio that accompanies the video material. If the video features “stopped,” the scammer would say, “I can’t hear you anymore. Let’s go back to texting.”
Likins started talking to her boyfriend after changing her Facebook profile to “widow.” (Liza Likins)
Each request for money became more difficult and contested, but Likins was still caught by the scammer, who showed her 24-karat gold bracelets 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 flamboyant show. “I checked all the details, address, email, phone number, everything checked. They also emailed me that they are on their way to deliver this safe to my home address.
“The scammer said if I could improve the shipping company’s shipment, I would have it in three days. I did. That was a really big first sum of money.”
Nothing was ever delivered to his house.
“I went four different times to the airport to pick up this person, because he was sending me pictures of his name on the boarding pass arriving at a certain date and time,” said Likins. “I was going to the airport, and of course … that plane wasn’t there, and neither was he.”
The television show “Social Catfish” helped him realize that he was being scammed. (Liza Likins)
The scam ended accidentally when Likins sang for a television show called Social Catfish. “Shocked” within minutes of the show after watching a story similar to hers on TV, she wrote to the producers asking to be contacted.
Through research, “Social Catfish” (an internet identity verification company with AI reverse search technology) discovered the real identity of the fraudster.
“I was going to the airport, and of course, … that plane wasn’t there and neither was he.”
Despite losing everything, Likins found strength in an unlikely person and made contact with the real person in the photos sent to him by the scammer.
“As it turns out, the reason there is a picture of him with Buddha is because he is a German trainer in spirituality and business,” said Likins. “He’s like the German version of Tony Robbins.”
He continued, “He started doing everything he could to advise me on how to heal myself and reminded me to love myself and forgive myself and move on with my life. And what I had to do was tell my story to help other people so that other people like me don’t get scammed.”
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