A pair of romance fraudsters have been jailed for conning five victims they met on dating sites out of £200,000.
Fredrick Diji, 37, and Racquel Johnson, 43, used fake names on online dating sites such as match.com to target their victims during the complex fraud that cops described as the “ultimate manipulation.”
One victim was scammed for 14 years before being told by police the person they were speaking to wasn’t real.
They made their victims believe they were in a relationship with them before asking for money under false pretences, which they never intended to pay back.
The pair made absurd excuses to con their victims into handing over cash- including claiming they were stuck in Dutch customs and that they had been “kidnapped” and needed money to help secure their release.
They forged documents such as death certificates and plane tickets to make their lies more believable.
The callous fraudsters would always claim they planned to pay the money back.
They would say they were due to inherit hundreds of thousands of pounds and just needed a stop-gap loan before they had the necessary funds.
Detectives began probing the scam in 2020 after a victim from Surrey came forward and officers were able to trace money paid by the victim straight to the pair.
A “gold mine” of evidence was found on their devices at their homes which unmasked them plotting with each other, sharing account logins and fabricating stories to manipulate the victims with.
Officers also uncovered evidence of money laundering by painstakingly tracing bank transfers between several accounts, which fraudsters often do to make money as hard as possible to trace.
More than £400,000 was found to have been laundered through their bank accounts.
Diji, from Camberwell, was jailed for eight years after admitting conspiracy to defraud, concealing criminal property and possession of an identity document for improper means.
Johnson, also of Camberwell, was jailed for three years and nine months after admitting one count of money laundering.
The pair will spend their first Christmas of many behind bars after being caged at Guildford Crown Court today (FRI).
Judge Robert Fraser told them they carried out a “truly callous conspiracy of significant scale” which has been “devastating to so many” before jailing them.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Becky Mason, who investigated the case said: “Romance fraud is heartless and cowardly and has a devastating impact on victims, not only financially but emotionally as they find their trust has been exploited in the cruellest of ways.
“Diji had his routine down to a tee, and assisted by Johnson, they would work together using a number of fake personas to target victims online, love-bomb them with promises of meeting in person and declarations of love, before fabricating reasons for desperately needing money, telling the victims that if they really loved them they would help them out.
“It was the ultimate manipulation which preyed on people’s emotions and good nature.
“I am incredibly grateful to each of the victims for supporting our investigation and I hope that today’s result gives them some sense of justice.”
A match.com spokesperson said: ““At Match, the safety of our members is our highest priority.
“We are very sorry to hear about this case.
“We have a dedicated team monitoring security 24/7, deploying industry-leading technology and human checks to ensure user safety.
“We are constantly reviewing our safety methods and proactively communicate safe dating advice to our members and within our platform.
“We encourage everyone to take the same precautions when meeting people online, as they would if they were meeting through friends or in a pub, bar or public space.
“It is always best to keep conversations on the Match site, messaging service or app, so that there is an accurate record and any concerns can be quickly reported.
“We also have a ‘report this profile’ function prominently positioned.
“We strive to create a safe and friendly environment for all users.
“Match has a zero-tolerance policy for reports of serious offences and encourage anyone who has felt exposed to unsafe behaviour whether through our services or anywhere else, to speak to the police, so that the matter can be investigated and documented.
“We have co-operated with the police on this case, as part of our commitment to work with the wider industry to define standards and share information.”
