My mother got scammed

This letter is in response to the column on page 16 of the Mossel Bay Advertiser of 23 February 2023, Roots 'n reflections, which discussed romantic scams on the internet.

I am convinced my mother is being scammed by an individual. He has told my mother he is a German who lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland, but I strongly suspect he is in South Africa.

I believe the pictures he is using are stolen ones.

I think they met on Facebook. She is madly in love with him and he has apparently promised her that he is going to marry her. She has sent him funds on several occasions, via Pep Paxi parcels, Postnet or to a cellphone number that he has stipulated.

All the messages they exchange refer to “my love, my wife, I miss you so much, just want to be with you, I pray for you, by God’s grace” and about when she can help him with money. He has asked for pictures of her with her ID and passport, which she sent to him.

According to her bank statements, funds are being paid over, a total of R105 000. What I can gather and calculate, she has sent off R500 000 to R600 000 over about a 12-month period.

Everyone around her warned her that this is a scam and that she is going to lose everything, but she has refused to listen to anyone.

What I find very upsetting is that my mother is sending this person videos and pictures of us and of our six-year-old daughter.

What can I do to protect her? There are so many similar stories out there of people being lied to and scammed. Can we please put some more light on these matters to warn people.

What makes this so horrible is that the scammer is not really doing anything wrong, because all he/she is doing is talking to a lonely person, who is willing to give, send him money or start cellphone contracts.

I think my mom is finally seeing the light, but it is too late. She has lost a lot, but she eventually contacted the police a few weeks ago.