Romance Scam Alert

Officers are issuing a warning following an elaborate romance scam which saw a vulnerable woman lose more than £100,000 after falling victim to an online fraudster claiming to a well-known celebrity tech-businessman.

The case forms part of our ongoing Truth or Trap campaign, aimed at highlighting the signs of three major types of fraud, including romance scams. Romance scammers create elaborate stories to gain victim’s trust over time before inventing a problem or situation in which they tell you you’re the only one who can help, before isolating you from family and friends and urging you to send them increasing amounts of money.

The woman, who said on her profile she was interested in technology, was contacted via Facebook by a man purporting to be a celebrity entrepreneur.

Over the period of two months, the scammer claimed he planned to come to the UK where he hoped he would be able to settle down with the victim.

He claimed that, because of his notoriety, he could not use his own bank accounts to make these plans, so asked the victim to send him money from her account, which he said he would return.

The man duped the victim into re-mortgaging her house and sending him a total of £130,000 while making numerous excuses as to why he could not come to the UK.

Eventually, the scam was revealed when a family member saw a change in the victim's behaviour as well as her weekly pension not lasting, because she was sending money to the scammer. The victim’s family also noticed she was not eating properly because she no longer had accessible cash to buy groceries.

The victim continued to struggle to accept what happened to her and social services became involved to help with her finances.

Our officers are continuing to investigate the case alongside colleagues at Action Fraud.

Simon Street, our fraud protect and prepare co-ordinator with our major and organised crime unit, said: “Though this appears to be an unusual case, sadly these types of scams are all too common.

“Fraudsters will take advantage of any information that may make you vulnerable to their advances, and this case was no different.

“Unfortunately, the victim found it incredibly difficult to accept that she had been scammed and so we liaised with partners to help her find the right support going forward.”

If you are worried about romance fraud, or think someone you know may be a victim, call us on 101, use Livechat on our website or contact Action Fraud.