McKayla thought she was dating Australian actor Dacre Montgomery. It was a horrible lie.

Catfishing - it's a crime so many of us are simultaneously intrigued and horrified by.

Casey Donovan has spoken about being catfished by her friend for six years. We've also seen multiple cases where Lincoln Lewis' images were used as part of an elaborate catfish. 

Now the same thing has occurred with an Australian Stranger Things star. 

A single mum from Kentucky has shared she was catfished by a scammer who claimed to be actor Dacre Montgomery. She was so adamant the relationship was real that she decided to divorce her husband for him.

Watch: Catfish the TV show trailer. Post continues below. 

Speaking to the popular YouTube series Catfished, single mum McKayla said it all began around 2021.

She had joined an artist forum online where she was keen to meet other creative people. While on the forum, a man messaged her under a pseudonym. They started talking about their shared passion for acting, and the man told her he is a successful working actor.

He then claimed to be Dacre Montgomery, who for context, is a 28-year-old Aussie actor best known for his roles in Stranger Things, Power Rangers, and Elvis.

"That's one of my favourite actors and me and him really hit it off. I'm obsessed with Stranger Things. Of course, I'm suspicious from the get-go though," McKayla said. 

"[That is] until he starts doing things to make me believe he is who he is."

Unlike Montgomery's character on Stranger Things - who comes across as a bit of a bully - McKayla said her 'Montgomery' was really lovely.

Months into chatting online, McKayla made the decision to end her marriage. She said it had been a long time coming, and her newfound connection was more the straw that broke the camel's back.

"He had been toxic and was limiting my creativity," she said about her husband, also noting that 'Montgomery' had said she needed to leave her husband "to make this work". 

McKayla's husband soon became estranged, and she was on her own with her seven-year-old daughter.

She was also told by 'Montgomery' that he was having issues himself with his girlfriend.

"I kind of empathised with that, because my [now] ex-husband was that way. After a year of speaking, we kind of admitted feelings for each other. He said: 'There's nothing like the feeling of love when it's reciprocated'. He asked me to be his girlfriend."

As for why they couldn't meet in person, the man McKayla was speaking to claimed he was still coming out of his prior relationship and needed to keep things on the down low due to his public profile. This is also why following one another on Instagram wasn't an option, nor talking to each other on the phone. She figured he was telling the truth.

"He claimed that he and his girlfriend had been on the rocks for six months, and when I looked back on Montgomery's actual Instagram account, there were no longer flirty posts about his public girlfriend on there in that same time frame."

Another tidbit that reassured her things were real, was when 'Montgomery' sent her a message ahead of a season four episode of Stranger Things to let her know his character would be making a special appearance.

When his character did in fact return, McKayla thought that was only something her new boyfriend would know. 

'Montgomery' would also send her poems that mirrored the writing style in DKMH: Poems by Dacre Montgomery. 

"The poems he was sending me would go along with his style of writing, so that's another thing that kind of confused me," she told Catfished.

Some of their messages on the forum. Image: YouTube.

A year or more into the online relationship, he asked McKayla for money. 

He claimed his still-on-the-rocks girlfriend controlled his bank accounts, prompting McKayla to send him money for over a year.

"I understand that point too because my ex was very controlling over our money. I said I can't help much but I can help a little bit here and there. Before I knew it, it was $10,000ish dollars."

She would get one-off cheques and gift cards in return. But it turns out these were fake.

After some digging from the Catfished team, they sat down with McKayla to let her know she had been catfished. Her boyfriend 'Montgomery' wasn't who he said he is.

Reflecting on the impact it's had, McKayla said she had seen red flags throughout their years-long online relationship, but was hopeful their love story was authentic. 

"I see comments like 'how could these people fall in love with total strangers and give money?' But as far as how I fell in love - love makes you do crazy, stupid, irrational things."

She also noted that "trauma does one heck of a thing to a person".

"These scammers come in and leech off that. In my case [and telling my story], I just hope it goes on to help somebody." 

Feature Image: Netflix/Catfished.

Love watching TV and movies? Take our survey now to go in the running to win a $100 gift voucher.