Outnumbered BBC star conned by fraudsters who posed as her TV dad and mom

Outnumbered star Ramona Marquez has admitted that she was conned by online scammers who posed as members of her family from the iconic BBC sitcom.

The actress, who plays daughter Karen in the show, told The People she was targeted by two fraudsters who claimed to be her on-screen mother and father Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis.

Ramona, 23, said she only realised she had been ‘catfished’ when she spoke to the real Claire.

She said: ‘We were talking and I said, “You recently joined Insta-gram.” She was like, “No I didn’t.” And I was like, “What? But I’ve been talking to you!”

‘I was having conversations with this catfish person.’

Ramona also received a message off the ‘fake’ Hugh, who told her that he liked to ‘play golf’.

‘I thought “That’s nice, them messaging me”‘, she said. ‘But it was a weird old man.’

The Brockman family were back on our screens on Boxing Day with a one-off special – eight years after the show’s last episode was aired.

Ramona Marquez , who plays daughter Karen in Outnumbered,  admitted that she was conned by online scammers who posed as members of her family from the iconic BBC sitcom

The 23-year-old was targeted by two fraudsters who claimed to be her on-screen mother and father Claire Skinner (top right) and Hugh Dennis (centre) 

Despite a lot of excitement ahead of the latest installment, fans slammed the episode and branded it disappointing and forced.

In the show, Pete, revealed to his children Jake, Ben and Karen, played by Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche and Ramona, that he was battling prostate cancer.

But Pete and Sue were also battling a friend who had overstayed her welcome by nine weeks, irritating neighbours and attempting to make a Christmas dinner in November.

The chaotic Brockman action was set against the backdrop of Jake’s new family including a partner and little girl, Ben’s attempts to explore the world and Karen being fired from her third job after a messy break-up with her girlfriend.

And while the much-loved sitcom re-united the cast after five years apart, fans were less than impressed by the episode.

Viewers took to social media to brand the Christmas special disappointing and messy with some fans even wishing it had never been made at all.

Taking to X, they wrote: ‘That Outnumbered special absolutely did not need to be made. Felt very forced and just not funny at all’.

Another said: ‘Bit of a disappointment tbh. #outnumbered’, while a third wrote: the outnumbered christmas special sucked bawls omg’

Outnumbered fans slammed the BBC Christmas special, branding it disappointing and forced after it aired on Thursday

After a five-year hiatus the Brockmans reunited once more for another festive special but this time under sadder circumstances

In the latest installment, Dad Pete, played by Hugh Dennis, revealed to his children Jake, Ben and Karen that he was battling prostate cancer

One fan said disappointedly: ‘that was so bad i was waiting for something to happen and it never did’

Others commented: ‘This feels forced. And unfunny’; ‘I enjoyed that more than most, but the ending was super rushed’; ‘Is dead, absolutely rubbish, no more of this EVER#Outnumbered’

One person simply wrote: ‘IS THAT IT?????’

Although many fans were disappointed by the health scare aspect of the episode, for Hugh, it was an important one after his own cancer scare.

Earlier this month the actor discussed why it was important to have representations of cancer on screen and shared his personal health battle.

Reflecting on the storyline he said: ‘Every family pretty much has had experience of that kind of stuff.

‘And we’ve had, not within my nuclear family, but my dad had cancer at 66 and survived until he was 88 having been through that. It has touched people.

‘It’s touched everyone, really. And I’m pleased to have done it actually. Partially because I got nabbed once by Prostate Cancer UK, and I’m now one of the faces of ‘go and get your prostate cancer self-check.’

‘As well as it being a story which resonates, I’m sort of delighted if it means that anybody goes and gets a check. That’s a sort of little victory, isn’t it?

‘Because everybody has been touched by cancer in some way. So essentially, no research needed because it’s such a common thing.’