The man was swindled by someone who claimed she would use the money to move from the Philippines to Ireland to be with him
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A Cork man has been left devastated after losing €18,000 in romance scam
Last December, Ted, not his real name, befriended a woman who he believed to be from the Philippines online.
The man said that at the time he was lonely and looking for love.
He said he was persuaded to send her €18,200 so that she could fly to Ireland to live with him but she soon disappeared.
The 61-year-old said the money was his life savings which he says were to be used for his funeral in the future.
During his appearance on Neil Prendeville’s RedFM radio show he discussed the scam, and asked for financial assistance.
A fundraiser was then set up after listeners contacted the station asking to donate to the man, who described his mental anguish following the fraud.
“Ted reached out to The Neil Prendeville Show for support and the people of Cork rallied, with many people asking RedFM to set up a GoFundMe for Ted, so here we are,” the page reads.
“As his mental health was not good at the time, he fell for her charm and needed the human contact she provided him with.
“Ted is a 61 year old from north Cork and has been left devastated because his savings were going to be used as his funeral money to ‘bury him’ when the time comes,” the page continues adding: “He thought they were ‘in love’”.
“Ted feels very foolish for what he has done and believes he is now a burden on his family. He also feels his life has no purpose now.
“We want to let Ted know that there are good people in the world and that he has the support of Cork.
“If you can donate anything to Ted’s fund, he would be hugely appreciative.”
The GoFundMe has raised over €1000 in the first 24 hours.
You can view the fundraiser here.
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