EastEnders viewers spot new cast member is ‘icon’ from chilling its a scam ad

Eagle-eyed EastEnders viewers spotted a perfect bit of casting in the BBC soap after a scammer made an appearance on Albert Square in the latest episode.

Fans quickly worked out that Janine’s shady friend was played by the same actress who sent a shiver down spines after starring in a famous Barclays advert alerting customers to the dangers of banking scams.

New character Melissa was seen in Wednesday’s episode, appearing to be an estate agent who Zack and Nancy met with to sign the lease on their new restaurant space.

But all was not as it seemed – Janine had in fact hired an old friend to pose as a fake estate agent, whose aim was to pressure the couple to put down a huge deposit for Janine to later get her hands on.

The scam led to Nancy and Zack forking out a whopping £50,000 in cash, delighted that their dreams were coming true – unaware that they had just lost everything as Janine planned to offer the cash to Linda to start a new life away from Walford.

Viewers thought that Melissa’s actress Katharine Bennett-Fox looked familiar, and soon put two and two together.

A Twitter user wrote: “Not EastEnders casting the ‘it’s a scam’ lady to play… a scam artist!” with the post racking up 13,000 likes.

Another EastEnders viewer also spotted the genius casting, saying: “Not this icon turning up in EastEnders to scam the residents of Walford.”

“Obsessed with her appearing in EastEnders to scam the Carters,” a third fan account.

The actress is perhaps most recognisable as the face of a 2017 Barclays advert which aimed to make people aware of the tricks that con artists can use to get hold of banking details.

The ad showed a woman in a call centre managing to sneakily obtain a customer’s security pin over the phone, before turning to look straight at the camera and asking: “Did you see what I did there?”

The compelling advert went viral, in no small part due to Katharine’s chilling acting skills which left viewers terrified.

“I can’t watch it at night before I go to bed,” one Twitter user said of the ad.

Another added: “She scares me every time she’s on.”

According to her IMDB page, Katharine has also appeared in Apple TV+ comedy Trying, the 2019 Hulu series version of Four Weddings And A Funeral, and ITV’s Grantchester.

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