A single mother gave approximately $10,000 to a scammer claiming to be Stranger Things star Dacre Montgomery.
An episode of YouTube’s Catfished series is making headlines after McKala from Kentucky discussed making contact with a person she presumed was Montgomery, 28.
“Here I am thinking that he is going to say he is Johnny Depp or something. He tells me that he is Dacre Montgomery. That is one of my favorite actors,” she shared about her meeting the catfish on an online forum. “Me and him just really hit it off but of course I am suspicious until he starts doing things that make me believe that he is who he is.”
McKala divorced her ex — with whom she shares a daughter — in order to make her relationship work with the individual she thought was Montgomery. According to McKala, “Montgomery” claimed he was in a toxic relationship with girlfriend Liv Pollock and needed help. McKala ultimately ended up sending money because “Montgomery” alleged Pollock was tracking his charges on their joint bank account.
“I said, ‘Well I can’t help much. But I can help a little bit here and there,'” McKala recalled. “Before I knew it, it was turning into $100 and $200 gift cards. But when I tallied it all up, it was $10,000.”
McKala went on to say that “Montgomery” found ways to prove his identity, adding, “When Stranger Things season 4 came out — the day before — he texted me, ‘Hey, you need to watch episode 4. If you don’t watch anything else, watch episode 4.’ When it came out the next day and he showed up in that episode. I was like, ‘Well, who else would know that?'” (During the episode, Vecna conjured a vision of Billy while tormenting Max.)
After speaking with the hosts of the YouTube series, McKala realized that she was being misled. “If you’re someone like me, you’re afraid of abandonment and you’re a real big people pleaser and you’re very codependent,” she concluded. “These scammers, they just kind of come in and they leech off that.”
The real Montgomery plays Billy in the Netflix hit series Stranger Things. Billy was a divisive character who appeared in seasons 2 and 3 before being killed off. Montgomery later made an appearance in a season 4 episode with a title dedicated to his character.
Before reprising his role as Billy in a vision, Montgomery said that he was “happy not to return” to the show. “I’ve put Billy to bed in my head,” he told Vulture in 2019, adding that he trusted the show runners to know “that the end is the end.”
The actor recalled having to fight to have Billy’s backstory included in season 3. “I really tried to humanize him as much as I could,” he added, noting that he hoped fans remember his character by “what he did in the end” instead of his previous behavior.
Off screen, Montgomery has been dating Pollock, 24, since 2017, and has yet to publicly comment on the Catfish incident. He previously gushed about their connection in a rare social media post.
“I want to use this moment (and platform) to thank @liv.pollock – it’s not often that partners get the recognition and appreciation for just how much they do. This woman right here is the backbone of everything I do. She’s the brains AND the elegance. She’s the one that packs up her bags and moves around the world for me. She’s the one that wakes up in a different hotel room everyday, because she’s there supporting me,” he wrote via Instagram in 2019. “She’s the one that has to deal with me coming home (exhausted) acting like an absolute basket case. She’s the one that helps me flesh out every idea. She’s the sounding board and the intelligence.”
Montgomery continued: “She’s the emotional support and also the person that allows me to live in the present and not take some things too seriously. So here’s a massive thank you to partners all around the world. The people that (sometimes) don’t get the recognition for just how much they do.❤️.”
