Fake country star hits sour note with Bluffton woman

The scam artists are getting creative.

A Bluffton woman lost $800 after she told police a famous country musician asked her via Facebook to send the money to one of his friends.

The woman told Beaufort County deputies on Monday she was contacted by someone claiming to be singer Thomas Rhett on Facebook on March 1. He asked her to help him by sending him money through Western Union Bank, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

She said “Rhett” told her the money would help him receive a briefcase that contained $4 million and that he did not want his management to find out, the report said.

He also told the woman he would send the briefcase to her.

“She informed me she had no problem doing this since she and Thomas are really good friends,” the responding deputy wrote in the report.

She told the deputy that she was told to take 20 percent out of the briefcase when it arrived and send the rest to the person she believed to be Rhett.

The woman told the deputy she sent $800 to Kate Nelson in Nairobi, Kenya, at the direction of the Rhett imposter.

She does not know Nelson, the report said.

Once she sent the money, she lost contact with the man claiming to be Rhett.

She told the deputy she wants her money back and will contact the media and tabloids about the incident, the report said.

She added that she is no longer a Thomas Rhett fan.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Fake country star hits sour note with Bluffton woman."