A woman was scammed out of £150,000 by a man she'd never met after he contacted her on Facebook.
Carol*, from Liverpool, said the scammer first sent her a message through the social media site claiming to be a man from overseas who was going through a break-up. As their friendship developed, he promised to travel to the UK to meet up in person.
But it was around this time that the man started asking for funds in a case that draws parallels to the hit Netflix show the Tinder Swindler.
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Carol said: “These scammers don’t ask for cash straight away. They get to know your low points and then comes the drama, then some more drama… and this goes on. That’s when they ask for the money.”
Carol was conned into thinking the fraudster had been arrested and needed cash to make bail. He also pleaded for financial help after saying he’d been left stranded in the wrong part of the country due to an airline error.
He then pressured her for more money – around £75,000 – to pay legal fees, fines and court charges.
Carol said the man then made threats to take his own life because he was “tired of begging”. The amount of money she had handed over soon reached £150,000 but it was never enough.
When the realisation hit Carol that she’d been scammed, she said: “It’s devastating. You feel ashamed of what you have allowed to happen.
“It’s like a disease because you end up lying to people close to you to hide your shame and you just can’t admit to what has happened.
“Afterwards I did some research and read a lot about victims of this kind of fraud taking their own lives. These despicable people prey on those at their most vulnerable.”
“You look back and think, ‘How did I fall for it?’. It feels like you are chasing money, like a gambler. The financial loss can be life-changing.”
Carol subsequently contacted her bank, as she believed they had failed in their duty of care to protect her from fraud. She was awarded £50 by way of an apology.
She then contacted Liverpool-based CEL Solicitors, who specialise in helping victims of romance fraud, on a 'no win no fee' basis. In Carol’s case, they were successful in recovering £179,000 from her bank.
Carol said: "The only way to get your money back is to get a solicitor. You need to try to find the inner strength because you have to go through the ordeal again so they can fully understand what happened.
“Getting this money back has given me options in life again. People can suffer in silence and I did to an extent, before I took action.”
Chloe Roche, fraud team leader at CEL Solicitors, said: “The emotional and financial distress romance scammers inflict on their victims is truly devastating.
“We help victims of scams to recover their money and have seen lots of scams straight out of the Tinder Swindler playbook.
“It’s shocking but it’s not uncommon so people should be vigilant when starting relationships online.
“However, those that have been targeted should never be embarrassed to come forward as help is available.”
