Pete Wicks’ ex Jacqui Ryland ‘received death threats after US high school student ‘Catfished’ her identity to con besotted admirers out of cash’
The glamour model said things came to a head when it was revealed Towie star Pete had been sexting her behind Megan McKenna’s back
PETE Wicks' ex Jacqui Ryland has told how she received death threats after a US student allegedly stole her identity to con besotted admirers out of cash.
The glamour model said she was ‘terrified’ after receiving the threatening messages - some directed at her children.
Speaking exclusively to the Sun Online Jacqui said: “This week a load of fake accounts were set up."
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She added: “One claiming to be Megan even told people to follow me.
"The higher your profile the worse it gets.”
discovered a 17-year-old American student had been using her photos to lure men into online chats.
He would then allegedly charge them up to $500 a time for supposed meetings with her.
Jacqui, from Worcestershire, later received an apology from the teen - but US police took no further action.
She claimed she started receiving threats after the online admirers turned up for non-existent meetings after handing over money.
Jacqui told the BBC: “Obviously I would not show up and then you would have these extremely angry people.
“I started receiving death threats telling me they were going to come to places where there were (photo) shoots advertised for me on the internet.
“They then researched my social media to find out I had children and sent me emails, saying they knew what school they were at.
“It was just horrendous and we had to get the police involved.
“It was so scary.”
She added: “To start with, I just brushed it off.
“You get used to someone pretending to be you but when I started getting the messages from people telling me they knew where I was going to be, I was literally terrified.
“The extent people will go to is horrendous.
“I am a fitness model and I have my own website, so I talk to people all over the world.
“But you are so vulnerable.”
According to figures released by fraud prevention organisation CIFAS, identity fraud has risen by 17 per cent in the past year - with 11,000 cases recorded in the West Midlands alone.
No criminal conviction was brought against the 17-year-old US student, who has not been identified.
But Jacqui said some sites are still using pictures of her and her children to ‘lure people in’.
She said: “You don’t know what to do.
“I have tried watermarking pictures but nothing seems to work and nothing deters them from doing it.
“In my case, the police’s hands were tied because this was a 17-year-old boy in America.
“He did send me a really long message, apologising for what he had put me and my family through.
“But with the growth of social media, there needs to be something more there to prove your identity.
“And there needs to be harsher punishments.”
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