A man from Northern Ireland has told of the “devastating impact” of a romance scam after he was conned out of £200,000.
The victim, who has not been named to protect his identity, has described how it “almost destroyed my life”.
“This entire experience has had a devastating impact on my whole life, both financially and emotionally. I felt ashamed that I had let myself fall victim to this fraud,” he said.
Ahead of Valentine’s Day, he has joined calls from the PSNI for people to be aware of the signs of romance fraud.
He told of how he was deceived out of the money over a two-year period between 2020 and 2022.
Having met online on a dating site, he believed he was in a genuine relationship with a woman he trusted.
After intense contact, initially via the dating app, their communication moved off-app, through private messaging.
The man began to receive requests for money for a variety of scenarios.
For example, on one occasion the woman told him that she had a very wealthy grandmother and that she needed to borrow thousands of pounds for legal fees relating to her will.
When the man was reluctant to send the money, the woman applied pressure to make him comply.
On another occasion, she told the man that she had been in a car crash, and again needed money from him to help pay her medical bills.
They spoke on the phone a few times, but he never met the person face-to-face and was given different excuses each time as to why not.
At one point the woman sent him a link to what police believe to be a fake online banking webpage in order to prove she had money to repay him.
“I have always had the attitude if I can help people I will but, unfortunately, in this instance I was taken advantage of,” he said.
The result was the man lost everything he had - more than £200,000 - and he found himself under severe strain and in debt.
It was at this point he called police.
“The people behind this fraud almost destroyed my life,” he said.
Fortunately, thanks to subsequent enquiries and the man’s bank, the money was recovered in its entirety.
Figures show between January 1 to December 31 last year, there were 127 romance scams reported to the PSNI with a total reported loss of £1,083,007.
Individual reported losses ranged from hundreds of pounds to more than £100,000.
Superintendent Joanne Gibson, chair of ScamwiseNI Partnership, said: “Many people use social media and dating sites to find love and meet new people and, while in many cases, situations are safe and legitimate, there are, unfortunately, criminals who take advantage of this and go to great lengths to build a fake relationship.
“Their sole aim is stealing people’s money.
“Fraudsters seek to build a relationship of trust quickly before requesting money.”
Superintendent Gibson said they “hope by raising awareness of this type of fraud, people will know the signs to look out for and feel empowered to stop fraudsters taking their money”.
