Facebook romance scammer swindles victim out of £5k

Woman warns others not to be taken in by cons

A DEVASTATED Scots woman has told how she was conned out of thousands of pounds by a heartless romance scammer.

The woman, who does not want to be named, said she felt ashamed when she realised she had been conned by the man who pretended to be her friend.

At the start of lockdown the woman, from the Highlands, set up a Facebook profile to keep up with pals. But one man preyed on her emotions and told her he was in “life or death” trouble.

The woman has spoken out in an effort to help anyone else in her situation.

She said: “I’m new to social media, especially Facebook, however during lockdown I thought I would give it a go and I saw a friend request from someone I thought I knew. I replied and soon discovered that actually I didn’t know them at all but we carried on talking and we seemed to develop a rapport. This went on for a few weeks and then he asked me to send him some money because he had got himself into some terrible situation.

“He asked for a small amount of money at first, just £500, which I sent via the Post Office. He asked me to send it to his agent, who had emailed the said address.

“I did obtain a receipt from the Post Office for this amount.”

She added: “We continued chatting but he asked me for more money – the situation was becoming a matter of life and death and it seemed really dire. I sent him £2500 by bank transfer. He asked me the same week to up that to £5000.

“I sent another £2000 by bank transfer. I went to the bank and I explained to them that I had a friend in need and they needed the money sent to them.”

At this point, a Bank of Scotland employee smelled a rat and called in the police to investigate a potential fraud.

The woman was interviewed by officers then referred to Trading Standards. The victim said: “They referred me to ability.net and the adult social work service, both of whom were very helpful and caring.

“The reason I am making this statement is that I don’t want anyone else to get into this situation. There are people out there who will help and be reassured you are not alone.”