Strictly star Ore Oduba said he is ‘ashamed’, ’embarrassed’, and ‘human’ after falling for a scam where he thought he received an exciting email from American podcaster Mel Robbins
Strictly Come Dancing star Ore Oduba was reduced to tears after falling for a scam. The presenter explained he had been the victim of an elaborate online scam where he thought he had received a message from American podcaster Mel Robbins.
Mel Robbins is the writer of transformational books, including The 5 Second Rule, The High 5 Habit, and The Let Them Theory. The TV star explained how the scammers impersonated the globally renowned author, speaker, and podcast host after he had appeared on Loose Women and claimed her philosophy ‘changed his life’.
Speaking to his Instagram followers, he explained: “I reposted that interview, I tagged the Mel Robbins podcast, tagged the Let Me theory, tagged Mel, tagged everybody who cared, and then I got an email from my agent who forwarded on an email from the team at the Mel Robbins podcast.”
Revealing his initial emotions, he said: “I could have cried, they knew who I was! I got an email from the Mel Robbins podcast team. I told Mel everything. How she had changed my life. And I literally said at the end of the email, even for you to know who I am, is everything. Thank you so much for getting in touch.”
Unfortunately, the email was later revealed to be a scam, and Ore revealed he was ‘ashamed’ and ‘embarrassed’ to have fallen for the con. Tears filled the TV star’s eyes as he explained how overjoyed he was at first glance and reflected on the irony as he once hosted a TV show about scammers called Claimed And Shamed.
He said in the video: “I’m reading this back and I know exactly how it made me feel at the time. I wrote back and I said, ‘Mel, I’m holding back tears. Is this for real? You must have AI helping you correspond with all of these fans’, Mel wrote back, ‘of course it’s me, it’s Mel Robbins’.”.
Ore added that he ‘never thought’ he would be someone who would be scammed and said he was fortunate to have spotted the scam before being conned out of giving any money .
He wrote in an in-depth caption: “I’m ashamed, I’m embarrassed, and I’m human. Did not think I would be the kind of person who could be scammed, but this proves it really can happen to anyone. Especially with the help and manipulation of AI. I’m terrified how easily I was ‘hooked’. It was SO convincing, it’s scary.”
The TV star urged people to listen to their ‘gut’ as he ‘turned a blind eye’ to something he wanted to be true.
He said: “’I’ve made no secret of how much Mel Robbins, her book and podcast have helped me through a really difficult period. Truth is I turned an emotional blind eye to something I so deeply wanted to believe was for me and nearly got myself into a whole heap of trouble (sidenote.. I’ve realised in making this video how often we do the same thing in relationships too!)
“Listen to your gut, it’s most likely telling you the truth. And don’t get scammed, it’s no fun. Still inspired by and love Mel Robbins and so grateful to them for their swift response. I got lucky – it could so easily have been too late.”
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