Online dating scam dupes woman into stealing £500,000

A LEGAL worker who was duped into an online dating scam and stole more than £500,000 from her solicitors’ firm to send to her fake American lover has been jailed.

Pamela Wareing, who was head cashier and compliance officer at Eastham’s in Blackpool, was duped by a fake US army major who called himself Eric Lopez. He told the 54-year-old he needed cash to be released early from a security contract in Dubai.

Preston Crown Court heard she initially transferred cash in small amounts before travelling to Dubai to meet him where she handed a five-figure sum to a man claiming to be Lopez’s associate. On her return, she sent £150,000 more of her own money.

Alerted by the huge sums being transferred to Dubai, police visited her to persuade her to stop sending cash to Dubai but Wareing turned to stealing, taking a total of £526,473 from the company. She faces six years in prison.

Detective Constable Mark Riley said: “I have no doubt Lopez is a fictitious person, a name made up by the whole team behind this elaborate scam.”