‘She sucks you in’ – women tricked by fraudster tell of scams’ impact

Joe Duffy reveals Samantha Cookes tried many times to get on ‘Liveline’

Women targeted by fraudster Carrie Jade Williams have spoken about the impact of her scams and their work to raise awareness so others do not fall victim.

Samantha Cookes, who has used a number of aliases including Williams, Lucy Fitzwilliam and Sadie Harris to cheat people, is believed to still be in Ireland, and her victims have warned she could be targeting others.

Cookes told some of those she met that she suffered from neurological condition Huntington’s disease.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s Liveline, victims said a support group had been set up on WhatsApp. Joe Duffy revealed yesterday that Williams tried to get on Liveline a number of times.

The RTÉ presenter said the show realised Williams was not telling the truth and did not let her on.

The English woman was previously caught defrauding a UK couple by posing as a surrogate mother.

After moving to Ireland, she built an online profile under the name Carrie Jade Williams, posing as a writer and disability activist who was fighting Huntington’s disease while developing technology for disabled people.

It all came crashing down in 2022 when she went viral after claiming fictional guests at her Kerry Airbnb were trying to sue her for “being disabled”.

It soon emerged that Williams was actually the fraudster and had also been sub-letting her Kerry rental property on Airbnb without the permission or knowledge of her landlord.

Soon, families came forward to say she had inveigled her way into their lives, often as a live-in au pair.

Yesterday, Duffy told listeners that Cookes had written to the show many under the alias of Williams. He was speaking after RTÉ recently released a podcast about how its audio documentary team was also initially duped by her story.

“Liveline didn’t believe her,” Duffy said. “On four occasions, calling herself Carrie Jade Williams, she tried, unsuccessfully, to get on, on each occasion looking for money with a sob story.”

Lynn McDonald told Duffy that Cookes used the alias Lucy Fitzwilliam and presented herself as a therapist who could provide assistance to her daughter.

“Lucy was introduced to me as a minister’s wife who ran a women’s refuge and was a qualified therapist, and she had a background in special-needs assisting,” she said. “You meet somebody like this and you go, ‘Wow, an absolute angel’.

“She has a warm, smiley, bright face. She has a beautiful demeanour, capable of listening and absorbing what you say. She just sucks you in immediately.”

Hillary, the woman who introduced Cookes to Ms McDonald, said her son has autism and she called her after he had “a really bad weekend”.

She was charged €100 per therapy session by Cookes, who organised a trip to Lapland for vulnerable children at €380 each – a trip that never happened.

“She was more interested in the food when she was in my house,” she added.