A team member at her local HSBC branch noticed the payment and got in touch to inquire about why it was being made.
Despite dismissing her bank’s concerns, she made one more payment for supposed “health and safety checks” – meaning she had spent around £100,000 paying for her believed romantic partner’s project.
Later, trying to make another payment, HSBC’s Banking Protocol scheme called the police and uncovered the romance scam.
It turned out that “Gerald” was a fake persona created by fraudsters to con women by pursuing an intense and fast-moving online relationship.
