We’re late .. so we’ll change timetable £570k fraud hell of dating site victims SPAWN TRAVOLTA
FEARS OVER RISE IN ONLINE ROMANCE CHEATS It’s tip of iceberg
Rail bosses have a new plan to make trains run on time – change the timetable to make the journeys longer.
Network Rail want to add up to four minutes to journey times on about 100 congested routes in Scotland. Peak services into Glasgow and Edinburgh are expected to bear the brunt.
The new timetable is due to come into force before Christmas. But ScotRail are fighting Network Rail’s plan and have appealed to the rail industry regulator.
They say they are already one of the most punctual rail companies in the UK, with 93.6 per cent of trains arriving within five minutes of schedule last month.
ScotRail sources warn that if Network Rail slow down their network, they will need more trains and drivers to cope.
But Network Rail boss Mark Carne told ministers this week : “We must imp r o v e timetable accuracy if we are to run the reliability of services passengers expect.” Whether you’re a brother or livin’ in a river, you’re Stayin’ Alive.
This Indonesian frog seems to have John Travolta’s dance moves down pat. He probably started out as a tadpole dancer.
A spate of so-called lonely hehearts cons are being prprobed by detectives.
In Scotland alone, police have laulaunched 25 investigations since JaJanuary into so- called romance frafrauds worth £570,000.
Last week, it emerged that a Scots grgran in her 60s had been fleeced out of £ 35,000 life savings.
The Dumbarton woman was snsnared on the Plenty of Fish dating wewebsite by a con artist claiming to be an engineer from Leeds.
The officer leading the huhunt for the hoaxers claclaims the figure is the tip of the iceberg.
De t e c t i v e C h i e f I n s p e c t o r K en ny ThThomson, head of Police ScScotland’s economic crime ununit, said most victims arare too embarrassed to cocome forward.
It was revealed earlier ththis month that Ian DoDoney, 51, from Grimsby, k i l led himsel f a f ter sesending all his money overseas to a woman who conned him on a dating website.
DCI Thomson revealed his officers are powerless to stem the rising number of victims.
He said: “When people do come to us, they’re mortified and don’t want their friends and family to know. That makes it difficult for us.
“We just don’t know how big the problem is – and can’t help them or stop others becoming victims.
“You’ve also got people who’ve potentially lost a considerable amount of their life savings and that can be utterly devastating. We’ve heard of older people going downhill rapidly because they’ve lost their self-confidence and independence.”
Dating websites are often used to reel in targets – usually women aged 46 to 69. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau said almost 4000 people reported online dating scams totalling a record £ 39million in the UK last year. Glasgow detect ive agency Boothroyd Associates get calls from romance fraud victims almost daily.
Their investigators tracked down a husband and wife team in Lanarkshire who conned a man out of thousands of pounds. The woman claimed she was trapped in a violent relationship and was often locked in a cellar.
Boss Bob Carrigan said: “She enjoyed thousands of pounds of gifts from a vulnerable disabled man she snared online.
“We found the house where the woman lived. She had claimed to be enslaved in a cellar – but the house didn’t even have one.
“The victim didn’t want to report the matter to the police.”
Action Fraud, the UK’s cybercrime reporting centre and an arm of the City of London police, get 350 romance fraud reports per month.
Deputy head Steve Proffitt said: “They get conned because the criminal is playing with their heartstrings. It’s organised crime.”