The BBC For Love or Money team checked into the photos of Louisa and the flowers, as well as another image which showed her with her mother when she first asked David for money.
The flower pictures were evidently edited, and a reverse image search of Louisa and her mum showed that the original photo had been digitally altered as well.
This image, without Louisa’s supposed mother in the background, had been circulated on the internet known to be in connection with scams, fraud and on multiple dating profiles with different names.
As it turned out, the woman David believed to be Louisa was actually an entirely innocent American model and actress, whose image had been used so often in scams she created a video to warn others about it.
Throughout the program, David understood that there was a likelihood that Louisa would turn out to be none other than a superficial front for a scam, but held out hope that he had met someone genuine to combat his loneliness.
His wife Pat passed away with a sudden illness in 2020, after 52 years of marriage.
He became emotional explaining: “We were teenage sweethearts. Got married when we were 17. I get emotional. It just hits a nerve.”
