Outlander fan loses thousands of dollars to conman posing as Sam Heughan

A New York-based Outlander superfan lost her life savings after getting involved with a man claiming to be Sam Heughan online.

A lot of Outlander fans swoon over Sam Heughan. He plays Jamie Fraser, after all, and his personality, good looks, accent, and friendly demeanor don’t hurt.

But it’s possible for people to take advantage of that affection. In fact, one fan lost her life savings (around £34,000, or $46,000) trying to stay with a man posing as the Outlander star, according to the Daily Record.

The story begins with Anna, a New York native in her 30s, reaching out via Facebook to a Sam Heughan account she thought was official — the blue checkmark led her to believe it was verified. She initially inquired about an Outlander fan convention in New Jersey, but soon the correspondence led to an “online romance” that spiraled out of control.

Her conversations with “Sam” became more frequent and personal, with him referring to her as “his queen” or “his wife.” Although he didn’t mention money at first, this individual eventually presented her with an opportunity to invest in Sassenach Spirits, Heughan’s new whisky brand. Thinking it was a good deal and truly believing it was Sam Heughan she was talking to, the woman decided to go for it.

"Then he told me I could make money investing in his business Sassenach Spirits. It seemed like a really good deal and basically sounded like he was offering me a job. He video-called but it lasted seconds and it looked like someone wearing a hat. There was so much light in the background, it was hard to tell anything at all. The sound wasn’t working so I couldn’t hear anything. He never tried again. He always had an excuse and said he had issues with connections. When I realised it was a scam, I knew I couldn’t go to the police and the bank or PayPal wouldn’t give me back my money as I had willingly transferred it. So I’ve gone to a private investigator in the hope he can track them down and stop this happening to anyone else."

Over the course of a year, Anna continued to spend her own money believing she was investing in Sassenach Spirits, and was even sent fake documentation stating she would be compensated £6000 every month and £70 per bottle of whisky sold. The conman made it seem like she was in contact with banks and attorneys to give the illusion that everything was “legit”.

"Who I thought was Sam then gave me an email to contact for more information. They sent me a payment package confirmation, supposedly from Sassenach, officially stamped with Sam’s signature.I started getting emails from United Bank to set up an account.I got an email asking for more money so I could access cars but I told them I didn’t have a driving licence. The email said I needed to pay for promo codes for the cars and it would boost the sales of the product. They said the car was part of the package.I used my $10,000 savings for the first part. I then sent one payment of $25,000 followed by other payments. In the end, I lost $45,000.I wanted to get out. I wanted my money back. But they said you need to pay for a code to get the money. I kept saying, ‘I don’t have it.’ I paid more money on my credit cards. I can’t believe it happened to me."

It wasn’t until the real Sam Heughan stood up and alerted fans about ongoing scams that Anna realized something was horribly amiss.

As of this writing, Anna has hired a private investigator to look into matters, but nothing has come of it as of yet, including a response from Sam Heughan or Sassanech Spirits.

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