Internet ‘husband’ used romantic songs to con me out of my £310,000 inheritance

QLike many, my life hasn’t been an easy one. In 2002, when l was 48, my husband died of bowel cancer, leaving my two sons, then 17 and 20, with no father.

My eldest son was preparing to leave for university and tried to deal with his grief by going travelling. However, my younger son was turning 18 and about to set off for university. He was so close to his father and after graduating he had a mental breakdown.

In 2010 l retired from my teaching job and began supporting my elderly parents. My father was suffering from dementia and my mother had poor mobility. With support, l was able to keep them in their own bungalow until they both passed away in 2017. I also lost my sister at the age of 54.

After my husband died l was on my own for nine years, but in 2011 I found happiness with someone else. However, after three short years together, tragedy struck again and he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He passed away in January 2022.

For the whole of last year l was mourning his death. How l missed him. I was so bereft. As time went on, l felt that life could not get any worse. But it has. In March this year my daughter-in-law asked me how l was feeling. I remember saying l was feeling lonely, but l didn’t feel alone.

The truth was I felt utterly awful. I needed help. I wanted to be loved, l wanted someone to put their arms around me and say everything was going to be OK. She suggested I join an online dating site, so I did.

In March, I joined a site called Ourtime, which is for over-50s, and I met someone. We emailed for a month but we didn’t meet up. He suggested we chat on WhatsApp, but we never FaceTimed. I was made to feel wonderful. But looking back, I was incredibly naive and desperate. But he was manipulative, controlling, and subtly threatening. I loved him.

Suddenly, out of the blue, he told me he was going to Dubai on business but he would be back in July. He was securing broadcasting and video equipment, he said. However, every time he was going to return to the UK, something got in the way. He said his contract could only be completed if he could secure the funds to have the equipment shipped, and this where l offered my help.

It started with a loan of £11,500, and in the end I gave him a total of £310,000. It was only after a friend snapped me back into reality that I realised it was all one big con. I’m ashamed and embarrassed. I loathe myself. I have handed the money I inherited from my parents, which was supposed to be for future generations, to a criminal. I have reported the fraud to my bank, HSBC, but I feel it has let me down so badly by failing to protect me from this scam that I hold zero hope of ever seeing a penny of my money again.

Following the scam I am left feeling so hopeless that the doctor has prescribed me anti-depressants.

– Anon

AYou say you’re usually very sensible with money, which has left you in shock over your own behaviour when you handed £310,000 to someone you had never met. The reality was that in your vulnerable and lonely state, this professional con artist worked on you so expertly that you felt like you were living in a fantasy universe he had created for you both. You

Love Lifted Me Kenny Rogers

Truly Madly Deeply Savage Garden

Perfect

Ed Sheeran

Just The Way You Are Barry White

Home Michael Bublé

I Hope You Dance

Lee Ann Womack

Once in a Lifetime Craig David

Love Will Keep Us Alive Eagles

When You Love Someone Bryan Adams

You Had Me From Hello Kenny Chesney