The 55-year-old nurse became involved with a scammer who took advantage of her caring nature. Over the course of a year she ended up sending him £65,000 and is now warning others what to look out for.
Joanna described how she joined Tinder after a younger friend encouraged her to just “go for it”.
She then met ‘Philip’ unaware he was a scammer who had stolen photos from an innocent man on the site.
“I met this person and we seemed to hit it off chatting,” she said.
“Quite quickly he asked me to change to WhatsApp ‘cause he felt like we’d clicked and he wanted to continue chatting to me.
“He said he was flying to Naples for work for a month.”
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Following this, the scammer convinced Joanna that his bank account had been frozen and he needed funds to pay his and his daughter’s medical bills.
Presenter Kym March highlighted how he played on her qualities as a nurse and flipped between emotional and abusive.
Joanna said she knows it now sounds unbelievable but every time she stopped to question something he had a convincing answer.
She said: “I know it’s pathetic but I always like to see the best in people.”
More and more people are falling victim to all kinds of scams which have threefold since the pandemic.
Co-presenter Ashley John-Baptiste said scams are becoming more sophisticated and fraudsters will go to extreme lengths to con people out of their cash.
Being scammed also has a huge emotional effect on people, especially when it’s by someone they thought cared for them.
People can report a scam to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
Express.co.uk has contacted Tinder for comment.
For Love or Money is available on BBC iPlayer.
