'I was scared con-artist would abduct my child'

A serial con-artist who posed arsenic a kid therapist and scammed families retired of wealth for a fake travel to Lapland near radical terrified, 1 of her victims has said.

Samantha Cookes utilized aggregate identities - including a nanny, an arts teacher and a surrogate parent - to con families successful the UK and Ireland betwixt 2011 and 2024.

Over the years she has been convicted of aggregate offences and was sentenced to 3 years successful situation earlier successful 2025 for societal payment fraud.

Now her victims person told a caller documentary by the BBC and RTÉ astir their ordeal with the serial scammer – including 1 parent who was truthful acrophobic astir her nine-year-old's information that she slept with a hatchet beside her bed.

Dublin pistillate Lynn McDonald told the filmmakers that Cookes, who was calved successful Gloucestershire, England, had developed a enslaved of spot with her girl Ellie aft they met successful 2016.

But that enslaved unravelled aft she and others discovered she was a scam artist.

Cookes, present 36, aboriginal fled, leaving Lynn disquieted "she would travel backmost successful the mediate of the nighttime and instrumentality my child".

Lynn archetypal met Cookes, who she knew arsenic Lucy Fitzwilliams, successful 2016.

She was introduced to the scammer by a person erstwhile she was experiencing a hard clip and needed much support.

Lynn's younger daughter, Daisy, was calved successful 2013 with Rett syndrome, a uncommon familial upset that affects encephalon development, resulting successful terrible intelligence and carnal disability.

In her guise arsenic a kid therapist, Cookes came doubly a week to springiness Ellie, Lynn's older daughter, one-on-one time.

"There was decidedly a enslaved of trust. Ellie was trusting her with her secrets and her worries," Lynn said.

"I don't deliberation anybody, erstwhile they conscionable her, knew what's truly underneath that skin."

Hillery Geelan, different parent from Dublin who was deceived by Cookes, said: "She finds your anemic constituent and your anemic constituent is ever going to beryllium your children."

She said she was "desperate" for assistance with her lad Rhys, who has autism, and had "nowhere other to turn".

Cookes earned the families' trust, seeking donations for a women's refuge and collecting wealth for the fake Lapland trip.

Lynn paid a deposit of £400 to Cookes.

However, her behaviour astir the travel was starting to rise suspicions.

"Each 1 [of us] had progressive different people, and each 1 of america who had progressive different radical had to cod the money," Hillery said.

"We started Googling however galore seats were connected airplanes but, by the sounds of it and the magnitude of radical that we were involving, we had personally sold astatine slightest 5 airplanes."

In the end, the women discovered determination was nary Lapland travel and nary women's refuge - though they had fixed Cookes donations of food, apparel and money.

When Cookes realised the families knew she was a scammer, she fled.

Hillery said the families "lived successful fearfulness for a precise agelong time" portion Lynn recalled that Cookes had asked her to motion a consent signifier for the Lapland trip.

She did not motion it but the form, which would person allowed Cookes to instrumentality Ellie overseas without Lynn, raised her fears that the scammer could person tried to abduct her daughter.

"When you observe that Lapland isn't happening... you question: 'Why did she privation consent to instrumentality my kid abroad?'" Lynn said.

She said erstwhile Cookes fled, it near her acrophobic arsenic cipher knew wherever she was.

"We had constabulary circling our area, our location was connected reddish alert, I had to person cameras enactment up astir my home," she said.

The BBC enactment each of the allegations to Cookes, but she did not respond.

Cookes' communicative began to unravel further erstwhile she appeared connected TikTok successful 2022 nether the sanction Carrie Jade Williams, giving an relationship of allegedly surviving with the degenerative Huntington's disease.

She received enactment and adjacent fiscal aid, including payment payments from the Irish state.

When 1 of her posts went viral, immoderate societal media sleuths discovered that Carrie Jade was not her existent individuality and she was faking her illness.

Women affected by her scams crossed the UK and Ireland acceptable up a WhatsApp radical called Scammed by Samantha.

"We've stopped talking astir her and present we speech astir ourselves," Hillery said.