Mum of three now bald after falling victim to bizarre phone scam
A mum of three says she is devastated after falling victim to an unusual phone scam that led her to shave off her hair and eyebrows.
Megan Randolph, a model from Utah in the US, says the saga started when she was contacted via text message by a stranger named ‘Ashley’.
Although she was “a little hesitant at first”, Ms Randolph told KUTV that ‘Ashley’ knew her name and said she’d been referred to her.
During their conversation, ‘Ashley’, who posed as an agent for Redken beauty and hair products, told Ms Randolph she could earn thousands of dollars by submitting a video of her shaving her head and eyebrows.
Redken has a campaign that offers tutorials on how to style and handle hair at home, but Ms Randolph was sceptical and investigated the phone number.
It appeared to be registered to Redken, the mum told KUTV, and a call and subsequent voicemail on the other end ultimately convinced her to take ‘Ashley’ up on the offer.
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However, after removing all of her facial hair on Friday (local time), recording it and texting it to ‘Ashley’, the supposed Redken agent was nowhere to be found.
The phone number is no longer in service.
“I am a little devastated...but it is just hair and it will grow back. I wasn't scammed out of anything but it's malicious; it's 100 per cent cruel,” Ms Randolph told the publication.
She said she’s speaking out to warn others, adding that her confidence has been “rocked”.
“Oh yeah, I haven't left the house, I don't plan on leaving the house until I can figure something out and I know that sounds silly.”
The job offer had included a free wig and semi-permanent eyebrow makeup for the mum following the video.
Ms Randolph’s husband Jake Randolph has since created a GoFundMe to help raise money for both.
“We make our rent, we pay our bills. But this is outside of what we can handle financially right now. My wife made this sacrifice knowing it would help our family. Right now she feels like it was for nothing,” he wrote.
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