Eastbourne dog groomer and TikToker appears on BBC show after being targetted by scammers

An Eastbourne dog groomer with an online following of more than 100,000 has appeared on TV after almost losing her social media page to scammers.
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Caroline Donoghue, known online as Lovemud Dog Lady, had built up a following of 140,000 on TikTok.

Caroline was proud to have a strong following all over the world, after working hard for over a year and a half on her social media accounts.

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Her followers tuned into her live grooming videos and followed her for exceptional award winning hints and tips on dog grooming.

An Eastbourne dog groomer with an online following of more than 100,000 has appeared on TV after almost losing her social media page to scammers. Photo: UGCAn Eastbourne dog groomer with an online following of more than 100,000 has appeared on TV after almost losing her social media page to scammers. Photo: UGC
An Eastbourne dog groomer with an online following of more than 100,000 has appeared on TV after almost losing her social media page to scammers. Photo: UGC

Then, last October, she received a scam email, which she believed to be from TikTok, saying she needed to verify her account. She innocently passed on some details but didn’t give her password.

Then she received a message that said her account was locked, and she would have to pay £300 to get it back.

Caroline said: “Initially I was in complete shock. I felt sick and I went into my account to see what had happened. My log in details had changed and I wasn’t able to log in, it hit me that this side of my business that I had worked so hard on was under someone else's control and I burst into tears.”

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Fortunately, as her device was still logged in, Caroline was still able to upload one single video, so she let her followers know she had been hacked and headed to TikTok customer support.

“I thought it would be quite simple, but I was getting nowhere,” she added.

"I gave up hope until the BBC got in touch to follow up my story on Scam Interceptors and the rest is history. 353 days later and my original account is back in my hands, thanks to the BBC, and I couldn’t be happier!”

The programme, which aired on BBC 2 on October 31, 2023, highlights the things you can do to stop scammers committing these sorts of crime, including the importance of checking which email address the email is from and to be aware of the time pressure they will put on you, to get you to act on impulse.

You can watch the full episode telling Carolines story on iPlayer now. Search for Scam Interceptors, series 2, episode 18.

To find Love Mud Dog Lady on TikTok, search @lovemuddoglady.

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