Speakers

Becky Holmes is the creator of and voice behind the popular Twitter account @deathtospinach. In 2020, having been on the receiving end of an annoying number of direct messages from online romance scammers, Becky Holmes started to enjoy wasting their time and publicly ‘outing’ their accounts. Four years later she is now a well-known expert on romance fraud, called upon by both professionals and the media. No other woman has had so many online romances – from Keanu Reeves to Brad Pitt to Prince William and she is a firm favourite with brave US peacekeeping soldiers and oil rig workers who desperately need iTunes vouchers or Amazon gift cards. Using humorous examples of her conversations with online fraudsters, Becky shines a light on the darkest corners of the world of romance fraud, looking at the similarities between romance fraud and domestic abuse, coercive control and confirmation bias, gaslighting and shame. She then talks about the even lesser-known sides to this crime: human trafficking, voodoo and scammer pyramid schemes. Her engaging way of presenting has an audience looking at all aspects of romance fraud, from the heartbreaking to the hilarious, the academic to the anecdotal and discusses where we're going wrong when dealing with those affected and how the effects of these scams are more far-reaching than it would first appear. Becky's book, Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You, has received outstanding reviews from critics, journalists, comedians, counter-fraud professionals and everyday readers. Becky Holmes has become a regular guest on radio and podcasts around the world where she talks about all things romance fraud, whether that be with a light-hearted touch such as Richard Herring’s Book Club podcast or with a more serious tone as on Jeremy Vine’s BBC radio 2 show.