He wired $35,000 to his ‘pregnant fiancée’—only to find her real husband answering the door
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A Belgian man thought he was about to meet the love of his life—but instead found himself face-to-face with her confused and protective husband.
He had driven nearly 500 miles across Europe with hopes of proposing to a French model he’d been speaking to online.
But it all unravelled the moment he knocked on her door.
The man—identified only as Michel—arrived in France expecting to meet Sophie Vouzelaud, a 38-year-old model and runner-up in the Miss France 2007 pageant.
Instead, he was greeted by her actual husband, Fabien Boutamine, who began filming the unexpected visit.
‘I have to film because there’s a guy who just rang my doorbell, and he says “I’m the future husband of Sophie Vouzelaud”,’ Fabien said.
‘Well, I’m the current one. There’s going to be a confrontation.’
Michel never showed his face in the video, which has since gone viral on social media after Sophie posted it on her account.
He claimed he had fallen in love with Sophie online and believed they were going to get married.
To make matters worse, Michel revealed he had sent $35,000 (approximately £26,000) to a woman pretending to be Sophie.
He believed she was pregnant with his child and had later suffered a miscarriage.
Sophie—who is actually pregnant with her husband—stood in shock as the man presented what he said were text messages between himself and the scammer.
‘This hurts my heart,’ she could be heard saying.
‘You must keep all the evidence and take it to the police.’
Fabien, who appeared used to such confusion, explained that Sophie had repeatedly warned followers to be cautious of impersonators.
‘My wife, no, it’s the fake accounts, you have to be very careful,’ he told Michel.
‘I’m sorry, sir, but the problem is that Sophie puts a lot of videos on [social media] networks to say to be careful not to get hurt.’
‘I think she played a dirty trick on me,’ Michel admitted as the truth began to sink in.
Sophie, who has more than 296,000 followers online, later posted the clip with a caption saying: ‘I feel so sorry for this man. Watch out for fake accounts, I'm sharing this video to show you it's real and to be vigilant! Take care of yourself.’
The story highlighted just how elaborate online scams have become—especially those targeting romance and identity.
Source: Instagram/sophievouzelaud_off
Earlier this year, a woman in the United States turned to a popular online forum after discovering her mother was allegedly being scammed by someone claiming to be actor Owen Wilson.
The imposter sent a video of ‘himself’ saying she was an ‘amazing woman’—but red flags included robotic tone, awkward eye movements and poor video quality.
The daughters believed the video had been created using artificial intelligence.
They tried to warn their mother but said, heartbreakingly, ‘she’s just not hearing us’.
In a bizarre twist, one commenter even suggested the daughters create their own fake AI version of Owen Wilson to scam their mum back—just to prove a point.
Another viewer remarked: ‘Wow that’s scary, you can tell the tone is off and robotic. Face also looks slightly different than Owen but wow that’s crazy for someone who wouldn’t know any better.’
‘His nose and eyes are also... not human lol,’ added another.
‘Tell her to watch his nose lol,’ one person said.
Scams like Michel’s show just how convincing a fake romance can be—especially when it involves real names, photos, and emotional manipulation.
But it’s not just text messages and phone calls anymore—some victims are now being tricked through realistic videos made using deepfake technology.
If you thought losing money to a catfish was bad, this next story shows how scammers are taking things to a whole new level.
Read more: Protect your heart and wallet from deep fake romance scams
What would you do if someone showed up at your door believing they were going to marry you?
He had driven nearly 500 miles across Europe with hopes of proposing to a French model he’d been speaking to online.
But it all unravelled the moment he knocked on her door.
The man—identified only as Michel—arrived in France expecting to meet Sophie Vouzelaud, a 38-year-old model and runner-up in the Miss France 2007 pageant.
Instead, he was greeted by her actual husband, Fabien Boutamine, who began filming the unexpected visit.
‘I have to film because there’s a guy who just rang my doorbell, and he says “I’m the future husband of Sophie Vouzelaud”,’ Fabien said.
Husband films surprise visit from catfished stranger. Image source: Instagram/sophievouzelaud_off
‘Well, I’m the current one. There’s going to be a confrontation.’
Michel never showed his face in the video, which has since gone viral on social media after Sophie posted it on her account.
He claimed he had fallen in love with Sophie online and believed they were going to get married.
To make matters worse, Michel revealed he had sent $35,000 (approximately £26,000) to a woman pretending to be Sophie.
He believed she was pregnant with his child and had later suffered a miscarriage.
Sophie—who is actually pregnant with her husband—stood in shock as the man presented what he said were text messages between himself and the scammer.
‘This hurts my heart,’ she could be heard saying.
‘You must keep all the evidence and take it to the police.’
Fabien, who appeared used to such confusion, explained that Sophie had repeatedly warned followers to be cautious of impersonators.
‘My wife, no, it’s the fake accounts, you have to be very careful,’ he told Michel.
‘I’m sorry, sir, but the problem is that Sophie puts a lot of videos on [social media] networks to say to be careful not to get hurt.’
‘I think she played a dirty trick on me,’ Michel admitted as the truth began to sink in.
Sophie, who has more than 296,000 followers online, later posted the clip with a caption saying: ‘I feel so sorry for this man. Watch out for fake accounts, I'm sharing this video to show you it's real and to be vigilant! Take care of yourself.’
The story highlighted just how elaborate online scams have become—especially those targeting romance and identity.
Source: Instagram/sophievouzelaud_off
Earlier this year, a woman in the United States turned to a popular online forum after discovering her mother was allegedly being scammed by someone claiming to be actor Owen Wilson.
The imposter sent a video of ‘himself’ saying she was an ‘amazing woman’—but red flags included robotic tone, awkward eye movements and poor video quality.
The daughters believed the video had been created using artificial intelligence.
They tried to warn their mother but said, heartbreakingly, ‘she’s just not hearing us’.
In a bizarre twist, one commenter even suggested the daughters create their own fake AI version of Owen Wilson to scam their mum back—just to prove a point.
Another viewer remarked: ‘Wow that’s scary, you can tell the tone is off and robotic. Face also looks slightly different than Owen but wow that’s crazy for someone who wouldn’t know any better.’
‘His nose and eyes are also... not human lol,’ added another.
‘Tell her to watch his nose lol,’ one person said.
Scams like Michel’s show just how convincing a fake romance can be—especially when it involves real names, photos, and emotional manipulation.
But it’s not just text messages and phone calls anymore—some victims are now being tricked through realistic videos made using deepfake technology.
If you thought losing money to a catfish was bad, this next story shows how scammers are taking things to a whole new level.
Read more: Protect your heart and wallet from deep fake romance scams
What would you do if someone showed up at your door believing they were going to marry you?
