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Incident 938: AI-Assisted Impersonation of Martin Henderson in Romance Scam Leads to Reported NZ$375,000 Fraud

Description: An alleged online romance scam exploiting AI-assisted impersonation defrauded a woman, "Lea," of NZ$375,000 over two years. The scammer used AI-generated voice messages and deceptive text communication to pose as New Zealand actor Martin Henderson and built up a relationship beginning in early 2023. The victim, believing the scam was real, reportedly relocated to New Zealand in December 2024, only discovering the fraud in February 2025.
Editor Notes: While this particular incident is reported to have taken place from early 2023 to February 1, 2025, Martin Henderson had previously warned about similar scams. On July 25, 2022, he posted on Instagram about fraudulent accounts impersonating him to deceive followers: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgdL6jMpgFE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.

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Alleged: Unknown voice cloning technology developer , Unknown large language model developer and Unknown deepfake technology developer developed an AI system deployed by Unknown scammer impersonating Martin Henderson and Unknown scammer, which harmed Martin Henderson and Lea (pseudonym).
Alleged implicated AI systems: Unknown voice cloning technology , Unknown large language model and Unknown deepfake app

Incident Stats

Incident ID
938
Report Count
6
Incident Date
2025-02-01
Editors

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

Incident OccurrenceWoman loses $375k and moves to New Zealand for love in fake Martin Henderson romance scam‘Virgin River’ Fan Reportedly Scammed Out of $375K by Martin Henderson Imposter+1
Virgin River fan claims she was scammed $375k during romance with Martin Henderson imposter
Heartbreak and Fraud: Woman Loses $375,000 in Fake Martin Henderson Romance ScamWatch: Martin Henderson’s message to fans after impostor fleeces woman of $375k
Woman loses $375k and moves to New Zealand for love in fake Martin Henderson romance scam

Woman loses $375k and moves to New Zealand for love in fake Martin Henderson romance scam

nzherald.co.nz

‘Virgin River’ Fan Reportedly Scammed Out of $375K by Martin Henderson Imposter

‘Virgin River’ Fan Reportedly Scammed Out of $375K by Martin Henderson Imposter

usmagazine.com

Virgin River fan claims she was scammed $375k during romance with Martin Henderson imposter

Virgin River fan claims she was scammed $375k during romance with Martin Henderson imposter

the-independent.com

‘Virgin River’ fan allegedly scammed out of $375K by Martin Henderson impersonator: ‘Very foolish’

‘Virgin River’ fan allegedly scammed out of $375K by Martin Henderson impersonator: ‘Very foolish’

nypost.com

Heartbreak and Fraud: Woman Loses $375,000 in Fake Martin Henderson Romance Scam

Heartbreak and Fraud: Woman Loses $375,000 in Fake Martin Henderson Romance Scam

bitdefender.com

Watch: Martin Henderson’s message to fans after impostor fleeces woman of $375k

Watch: Martin Henderson’s message to fans after impostor fleeces woman of $375k

nzherald.co.nz

Woman loses $375k and moves to New Zealand for love in fake Martin Henderson romance scam
nzherald.co.nz · 2025
  • An American woman is distraught after finding her two-year relationship with someone claiming to be Kiwi actor Martin Henderson was fake
  • She says she shared intimate details and took out more than $375,000 in loans to pay for a private jet…
‘Virgin River’ Fan Reportedly Scammed Out of $375K by Martin Henderson Imposter
usmagazine.com · 2025

An American woman lost more than $375,000 after being tricked into thinking that she was in a relationship with Virgin River actor Martin Henderson.

The 47-year-old woman, named Lea, spoke about the scam in an interview with The New Zealand…

Virgin River fan claims she was scammed $375k during romance with Martin Henderson imposter
the-independent.com · 2025

A woman in New Zealand has claimed she lost $375,000 from someone who pretended to be the star of Virgin River, Mark Henderson.

The 47-year-old, Lea, spoke about her two-year relationship with the alleged scammer during an interview with Th…

‘Virgin River’ fan allegedly scammed out of $375K by Martin Henderson impersonator: ‘Very foolish’
nypost.com · 2025

An American woman had a long-distance relationship with “Virgin River” star Martin Henderson for two years — or so she thought.

The 47-year-old woman with the pseudonym Lea spoke about the scam in a Feb. 7 interview with the New Zealand Her…

Heartbreak and Fraud: Woman Loses $375,000 in Fake Martin Henderson Romance Scam
bitdefender.com · 2025

This month, we've focused on the devastating reality of romance scams, and how much damage they can inflict, both financially and emotionally.

In a story that mirrors the pervasive nature of romance fraud, an American woman known as Lea los…

Watch: Martin Henderson’s message to fans after impostor fleeces woman of $375k
nzherald.co.nz · 2025
  • Kiwi actor Martin Henderson has issued a heartfelt message to the victim of a romance scam using his name and image.
  • The American woman lost $375,000 to someone pretending to be him.
  • Henderson took a break from filming hit TV series My Lif…

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

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