Is Burned by Love a true story? The film’s real-life themes

Burned by Love is a Lifetime movie about Ashley Morris, a woman battered by love. She divorces her husband after he comes home for his surprise birthday party with another woman. A year later, Morris rejoins the dating game via the most modern way possible: a dating app. 

Morris meets a man named Marco Pastore, who intends to scam Morris – and scam her, he does. Pastore flees with Morris’ $8,000 and purges all evidence of himself on the internet. Morris retaliates by posting multiple warnings against Pastore on the internet. 

With his reputation in tatters, Morris vows to get revenge.

Burned By Love is not based on a true story, but it explores real-world themes

As far as we know, Burned By Love is not based on a true story. It’s a fictional story written by Shawn Riopelle and directed by Michelle Ouellet, who are frequent collaborators on Lifetime. Furthermore, the film isn’t related to Patrice M. Foster’s book of the same name. 

The film doesn’t tell a true story, but it explores real-life themes, such as the dangers of online dating and stalking. Innocent people seeking love have lost money to scammers on dating sites. 

Most scammers use the MO used by Pastore in the film. They strike up a relationship with the target to build trust. In the film, Pastore and Ashley video-conference for hours, with Morris falling asleep during one of their chats. 

After establishing trust, romance scammers concoct a fake story and ask for money. In Burned By Love, Pastore tells Ashley he was robbed right before their planned meetup at the deserted island where he lives. Marco tells Ashley he needs $8,000 as his accounts have been frozen. 

After receiving the funds, Pastore disappears, like real romance scammers do. Marco is eventually arrested, but not before stalking and harassing Ashley and her friends. Retaliatory stalking is another phenomenon of our time that Burned by Love explores through a fictional story.