Former Married At First Sight star Mishel Karen has become one of Australia’s biggest and most unlikely OnlyFans stars in the last year.
But the 51-year-old grandmother was scammed out of her earnings from the site after she became involved in an elaborate financial trading scam that left her emotionally devastated.
Speaking to Chron Australia, the mother-of-two said scammers ran off with over $77,267 of her money and left her heartbroken after one of them wooed her with a fake romance.
Former Married At First Sight star Mishel Karen (pictured) was targeted by an online scam that tricked her into shelling out over $77,000 of her OnlyFans earnings
Her extended family members also lost to the scam, including her parents, who invested $80,000 in the program, and her cousin, who deposited $15,000.
In all, the family lost around $150,000.
“I feel like a really big fool, I really do,” she admitted.
“They know the person, they know your weakness and then they start playing with it.”
Mishel was initially lured into signing up with an online broker after being lured by misleading reviews and media articles about the company.
An article presented to her claimed that several prominent Australian celebrities, including a notable TV presenter, had supported the televised mediation – only for Mishel to later discover that the entire article had been fabricated to fool her.
She was also given a fake London address for the company and was referred to websites that contained fake, rave reviews of the company, as well as false claims touting the credibility and safety of the service.
“It was a scam story that wasn’t real,” she said.
“I read the article…but it was a fake story and I didn’t realize it.”
The 51-year-old has been working as a porn star at OnlyFans for the last year but her bank account was plundered by the scammers who claimed to run a successful financial brokerage
Mishel was also seduced and courted by one of the scammers who claimed to be a suave businessman from London
Mishel says that after a few months of not seeing any financial returns, she became suspicious when the company sent a handsome finance broker named “Charles” to get her to stay – and pay.
“They must have known who I am because suddenly they gave me a finance broker who became a love interest,” she confessed.
“He started courting me with chocolates and flowers.”
The love rat even convinced Mishel that they would meet and that he would fly her to London so they could be together.
“It just turned into a romance and he kept getting more and more money from me,” she lamented.
The scammer convinced Mishel to hand over her life savings with false promises that they would invest in their ‘future’ together – only to run off with the star’s money
To keep the 51-year-old going, the brokerage firm fabricated online stocks to make it appear like Mishel was making thousands of dollars and doubling her investment, when in reality they were simply stealing all her money.
“They all have shares and you can see them buying and selling, but it’s not real,” she explained.
“He would say, ‘Look Mishel, invest so much more because this is for us! This is for our future.”
Mishel said Charles would Whatsapp to her “almost every day”, leading her to believe they were romantically involved and would one day be together.
Mishel and the scammer known as “Charles” chatted daily on WhatsApp and he even sent her chocolates and flowers to keep her from getting suspicious
In screenshots of their conversations provided to the Chron, Charles flirts with the MAFS star by promising to buy her a pony and telling her she’s beautiful.
“I’m very attracted to you and want to get to know you more,” he wrote in a message. “This year I’m flying you to London.”
Although the cheating lover claimed he was a suave London-based businessman, Mishel revealed he had a suspicious South African accent, but she was so in love with him that she brushed her concerns aside.
“Maybe I should have just known,” she sighed. ‘
I just didn’t know. He kind of had an English accent, but with a touch of South African.”
‘I’m very attracted to you’: The scammer courts Mishel with compliments in screenshots of their private conversations
At one point, “Charles” promises to buy Mishel a pony – but it was all a lie to get the lonely grandmother to give more money
The former MAFS star finally realized something was wrong when she had to be rushed to an emergency hospital after a bad bout of pancreatitis.
“I wanted to withdraw $5,000 [for medical bills] and then the wheels came off,’ she said.
At the time, Mishel had been fooled into believing that she had more than $180,000 in her account.
She was then tricked with another story by Charles, who told her that an investigation was ongoing at the company and that he did not have access to her funds.
“Maybe I should have just known,” she sighed. “I just didn’t know. He had an English accent of sorts, but with a touch of South African.
When Mishel finally gasped and tried to leave the brokerage firm, she was told the only way she would get her money back was if she spit out another $12,000.
“The last time I called they said I could get my money back if I paid another $12,000. I just thought, “Oh my god, they don’t stop!”
After realizing something was wrong, Mishel wrote some negative reviews online to warn other potential victims, only to have the reviews mysteriously disappear from the site shortly after they were posted.
“They kept getting taken down,” she explained.
“I texted them back and said, ‘Why are you taking back my ratings? This is a scam!”
The scams didn’t stop there, the scammers infiltrated Mishel’s cell phone and computer after she gave them access via the AnyDesk remote desktop application.
She didn’t know her computer had been infiltrated until one day when she logged in and saw a website open with a basket full of purchases she never made.
Mishel has since reported the scam to “everyone”, including the ACCC (Australian Competition & Consumer Commission), the police, the ACSC (Australian Cyber Security Centre) and her bank, but was told she “probably” didn’t do will get their money back.
Despite losing a huge amount of money and having to start her bank account from scratch, the single mom confessed that one of the most heartbreaking parts of the whole experience was being misled by the man who was courting her.
“The stupidest thing is that I kind of missed the guy I was in a fake relationship with,” she said.
“I missed him calling me,” she continued. “I keep telling myself, ‘This isn’t real, Mishel. He didn’t have those feelings.” I don’t know…” she trailed off.
“I just don’t want anyone else to go through this. It’s heartbreaking.’
Mishel has been working full-time as an OnlyFans model and porn actress since she lost her job in politics school last year for refusing to comply with vaccination requirements.
Despite losing everything and having to build her bank account from scratch, the single mom admits she still misses the man who cheated on her
She has also financially supported her daughter Eva, who she says suffered from heart problems and myocarditis after being vaccinated.
Pericarditis and myocarditis have been observed in an extremely small number of people after receiving mRNA vaccines, which includes Pfizer.
Mum of two and grandmother of one, Mishel is older than most of her peers at 51 and is also known for performing hardcore acts that other OnlyFans models are unprepared for.
To stay afloat financially, the star has done everything from lesbian threesomes and a 12-person orgy to selling her used underwear to fans.
Mishel admitted that she is worried about her financial future and the well-being of her family.
“I worry about money. I’m worried my OnlyFans will end up not doing so well,” she said.
Mishel says she is now worried about her financial future and how she can continue to help her two children, son Samuel and daughter Eva. All pictured