How internet famous Caroline Calloway dodged being cancelled | 60 Minutes Australia

has this fatigue Caroline Callaway has become a worldwide internet sensation by being honest about being dishonest the 31 year old is a Brazen and it must be said quite beguiling a fraudster who's decided to make crime pay by fessing up to it in her scamming career Caroline first made her name by lying her way into Cambridge University she then graduated to even more audacious rip-offs conning and stealing from a multitude of unsuspecting victims it's a sobering indictment but like it or not Caroline's proving that once you've had one Scandal you might as well have a thousand [Music] welcome to the weirdest interview of my two decades in journalism alright Carolina you happy to start this yes all right I don't know if you heard but Matthias just meowed On Cue introduce me who have we got here this this is Matisse Matisse isn't the brightest button on the cardigan if you know what I mean but he but he doesn't have to be we all don't have to be super smart I didn't get into Cambridge on my own Merit so you know relatable Kitty you know he just loves love I think that's really all animals want is just just be being adored strap yourself in because Caroline Callaway is a hell of a ride I don't know how you're going to clip this together good luck if I were old and doing this I would just be like a kooky old lady but like because I'm young it's like it girl it's so [ __ ] up second the second I get wrinkled I'm gonna be so [ __ ] I'm so kooky already yeah but like people underestimate you you're actually super smart thanks I thought you were gonna be way meaner to me in this interview I thought it was going to be like on a scale of one to ten one being evil 10 being extremely evil where would you rate yourself the truth is plenty of people would indeed give this notorious internet personality a 10 on that scale this is the story of a modern day fraudster an influencer who embodies the saying fake it till you make it hello my name is Carolyn Callaway [Music] who I am number one I invented flowers you're welcome but tonight we uncover the truth about Caroline Callaway the scammer who really does put the artist into con artist my hobbies include scamming and I'm the best at it because I've never been caught lots of scammers are in jail not this one that's why I'm the best most fraudsters do their work behind closed doors but Caroline Callaway isn't your average scammer she thinks she can make grifting respectable and she's happy to get glammed up to front our cameras she wants to explain that she's in fact an author who's just been on a pretty wild Journey how desperately did you want to become popular oh gosh sickeningly like it's so lame and sometimes I'm like why are you such a dumb [ __ ] do you know what I mean like is that relatable to you at all I'm 23 years old and I live mainly in Cambridge but sometimes in New York thank you the reality of becoming a grifter was born of the dream of becoming a writer in 2013 that was a step closer to reality when Caroline was accepted into the prestigious Cambridge University at the same time she became one of Instagram's first influencer Sensations as she documented life on campus but little did everyone know at the time it was all a con oh can you tell us how you got into Cambridge I forged a grade on my transcript I changed a d plus that I got in high school my senior spring changed it to an A minus and I lied and I got in [Music] not only had Caroline used fraud as her ticket into Cambridge her Instagram was based on Deception 2. you bought a huge number of followers to make it look like her account was much more popular than it actually was her practice that's now illegal and this is where Caroline's scams started paying dividends by 2016 the apparent success of her Instagram profile led to a publisher offering her a staggering half a million US dollars to write a book about her life yeah Caroline never wrote the Memoir instead she pocketed the advance of a hundred thousand dollars and used the stolen cash to live the high life on New York's exclusive social scene yes it girls are startups and startups need funding I spent that one hundred thousand dollars on things that would look great on my Instagram on trips on ball gowns on things that I could post about in order to keep the follower count growing and to like keep getting the maximum number of likes per post it wasn't just her publishing that Caroline was ripping off she also stole from her landlord so she could keep splashing the cash on herself I stopped paying rent my last year in New York because I'm a dumb [ __ ] and a bank wasn't going to give me forty thousand dollars to buy clothes and party in New York and so I just didn't pay rent for a year but I'm paying them back and I only have 15 grand left to pay them so it'll be paid probably by the end of summer so your choice at that point in life was to either live a life of luxury or pay your rent yes you could have never asked for that money from a bank to go out and just be in the right rooms with the right people having the right conversations wearing the right clothes Caroline's fraudulent ways still weren't public in 2018 so she launched a national creativity Workshop tour where for 165 ahead her fans could meet the influencer and learn about building a brand we just sit around have salads talk about creating art and heartbreak and pain and recovery so I call them creativity workshops but instead the Roadshow made International headlines when it was canceled after she failed to book venues in a number of cities leaving her loyal followers not only Furious but out of pocket but you kind of believe that you know most of the people that came to these workshops your followers know that your brand is kind of that you're a bit of a hot mess and so they knew what they were signing up for yes exactly to be honest like people who follow me and especially the like super fans who want to come to like a 40 person drink wine I tell stories maybe we do some crafts we sit on the floor those people they [ __ ] get it like they get the chaos is the brand they know what they're signing up for like they've been following along for a while and they know me you're just owning it oh my gosh I'm so deeply unlikable when I talk about this like I know it I hear it the publicist in me knows that the correct thing to say is you know I oh I over promised and I under delivered and I'm sorry but I did a great job everyone thought I was like truly a criminal like a white collar criminal mastermind who belonged in jail and I felt like that was kind of unfair even though I know it's unlikable for me to say this and maybe in my next interview I'll just say I over promised under delivered I'm sorry next question Caroline was outed as a scammer but as you'll see rather than repent she decided it was time to Double Down you've said once you've had one Scandal you might as well have as many as you want not you might as well I think you should he just disappeared okay great so back to the kooky world of scammer Caroline Callaway where were we I also have some things I want to [Music] in just [Music] Caroline is the influencer turned fraudster who lied to get into Cambridge scammed a half a million dollar book deal and became an internet super villain when she was accused of ripping off her fans with a failed tour yet she claims she's just a cat lover and a troubled writer who's been misunderstood I was saying look see this like shouldn't a survival Instinct kick in okay see he's sort of dead I worry that people will think your treatment of Matisse is more reprehensible than uh than some of the scams you've carried out bro you don't even know they're um there's literally a rumor that I drugged him but um trust me Matisse is very loved and he has all the hats he could ever want and all the cuddles he could ever want and he's my best friend the self-described crazy cat lady needs a new best friend because her old one Natalie beach now hates her she caused even more hysteria online in 2019 when she penned an article claiming Caroline Callaway was a fraud and that Natalie was the real author of much of the writing that had made the influencer so famous it's an allegation Caroline disputes your best friend absolutely tips a bucket on you how did you feel reading that I felt like someone had like reached it into my body like through my mouth and like pulled out my soul along with my voice and taken it away from me this is when the hydrate of Caroline Callaway really picked apparent scam after scam saw her being likened to Notorious fraudsters like Anna delvey and theranos Creator Elizabeth Holmes those people aren't currently in federal prison or have been to prison or on on house arrest so at first when people compared me to them my nerves were so frayed I felt like the FBI was kind of like break down my door at any moment and come and put me in cuffs and take me to prison for the rest of my life I know I'm not like Elizabeth Holmes because they're in jail and I'm not they did crime and I have never so like now I'm able to laugh at it but at first it was really terrifying to be compared to them honestly it really freaked me the [ __ ] out it was around this time that Caroline had an epiphany you've said once you've had one Scandal you might as well have as many as you want not you might as well I think you should I mean if you've had no scandals my advice would be continue to have none but if you've had one Scandal have as many more as you can because otherwise that one Scandal will Define you and you really need to play into the trumpian Kardashian information overload principle like at a certain point we just can't remember all the stories about someone and I think that is once you've had one big Scandal that is your way forward [Music] online places like these so Caroline Callaway decided to do what she does best right and behold she is now a published author and what better way to own your reputation than by calling the book scammer Caroline wants us to believe that this is a story of redemption claiming to have now paid back every single person who was ever out of pocket to her including coming up with the pretty risque way of refunding the huge sum she owed her original book publisher and so I joined only fans and I sold topless photos of myself dressed as literary heroines uh just like tits out but make it books I sort of thought of it as like cerebral softcore porn and I made mad money I was actually on the top 0.3 of all creators on only fans you know I was making like 25 Grand a month so I wish I could say I paid them back in four months no I paid them back in like eight months because I spent a hundred thousand dollars on just random [ __ ] because I don't know because I'm incorrigible because I'm the problem but um I did pay them back you're funny you're entertaining but the cynican May thinks you know you just use those charms to to mask the fact that time and again you've actually scammed people out of their money seriously you say you I've scammed people find a person who I've scammed find one person you call yourself a scammer I don't feel like I went after the moniker scammer I feel like I'm wisely playing the hand I was dealt you know there's a difference thank you it's been a rocky road to achieving her dream of becoming an author but Caroline Callaway is finally busy sending out personalized copies of her book to fans around the world the irony is her Memoir wouldn't be nearly as entertaining if she hadn't enjoyed such a turbulent and controversial life Vogue yesterday just published an article titled in defense of Caroline Callaway they loved the book The Washington Post called it a masterpiece today which is really exciting because I'm from Virginia so like that was the paper we got delivered like but I just wish my dad were alive to see it he would have been so proud but um anyways I don't know what's better than a masterpiece but I I'm gonna chase it all right I think we've covered all bases with you thank you very much except okay thank you so much I had so much fun actually now I'm like sad it's over but it'd be remiss of us not to get a goodbye wife from Matisse where's where's Matisse bye thanks for having me hello I'm Tom Steinfeld thank you for watching 60 Minutes Australia subscribe to our Channel now for brand new stories and exclusive Clips every week and don't miss out on our extra minute segments and full episodes of 60 minutes which are on nine now.com and the nine Now app

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 68,638

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Tara Brown, Tom Steinfort, 60Mins, Amelia Adams, news, world news, news australia, investigative journalism, 60 minutes australia youtube, 60 minutes youtube, 60 minutes episodes, 60 minutes australia episodes, 60 minutes australia, 60 minutes, caroline calloway, caroline caloway, cambridge fairytale, cambridge university, scam, scammer, instagram influencer, social media, con artist, social media influencer, fraud, it girl

Id: vk9LlNqInOM

Length: 15min 15sec (915 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 16 2023