A widow was tricked out of £50,000 by a romance scammer she met on Facebook. Lyn, from Cheshire, thought she had found love with a man named Derek, who claimed to own a mineral company in Dubai.
He even used edited pictures from the internet to make Lyn believe they were a couple. Derek pressured Lyn into sending him money, saying he needed it for his employee’s hospital bills. He also convinced her to open several cryptocurrency accounts to send more money to him and his ‘business partners’, promising to pay her back.
Lyn managed to get her money back after a police investigation but wants others to be careful of romance scams. She said: “I didn’t have an inkling he was a scammer at all. He used to ring me up at least once, maybe twice a week on the phone. He sounded very genuine.
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“They know what to ask and what to tell you, what you want to hear – that you’d only hear from your husband and what have you. And then they kind of real you in, and then you’re into this relationship and they keep promising to come over and meet up.
“You keep sending the money out and it’s never-ending, there’s always something. These people are clever and they can do it to males, females – they’re just there to get your money. So don’t be afraid. Talk to your friends, talk to your family, don’t keep secrets.”
Lyn shared that she met Derek in a Facebook group for grieving widows and they got along well after he started chatting with her. She explained how the scammer took advantage of her vulnerability following the loss of her partner.
She said: “This guy I got talking to, he lived in Manchester but he worked away a lot digging for minerals at this business of his that he owned. We got talking and we had loads of banter.”
“He was a widow, so I thought, ‘Oh, we’ve got something in common.’ The pain I’m feeling, he’s feeling the same. And it just went on from there.”
However, Lyn revealed that four months into their relationship, Derek began asking for money to cover the medical bills of his injured employees in Dubai. She decided to help him as he promised to repay her “with interest”.
But then, he asked for more money for other expenses and later instructed her to send money to his associates via bitcoin. She said: “There was an accident that happened over in Dubai where he was working and six of his employees got injured, and he had all these hospital bills to pay.”
“He said would I help him with them? He said, ‘I’ll pay you the money back with interest, don’t worry about the money.’ Then the hotel was going to chuck him out – ‘Could I pay his hotel bill?’ And it just went on and on from there.”
“Then eventually, I’d run out of money, so he then said, ‘I’ll get my business partners to transfer money to you through my secretary, and then if you can transfer it through bitcoin to me.’ Lyn said she didn’t want to tell her family what had happened because she felt embarrassed to admit it.”
She said: “I was more embarrassed about bringing the subject up with my family so I kind of kept it away from them but I have a close friend who I told, and she just said, be careful.” Lyn learned that the relationship had been a sham when Cheshire Police officers came to her door and informed her in January 2021.
Lyn added: “I thought, I’m just a normal woman in a normal everyday life. It won’t happen to me, but unfortunately, it does, it happens to anyone. These romance scammers look for vulnerable people, so be careful what you share on Facebook, what you tell people. Keep your cards close to your chest.”
Lyn has since found a loving new partner, who she also met online, and revealed how she planned to go on holiday with him soon. But police constable Jim Day, of Cheshire Police, said it was crucial for vulnerable people to look out for scammers ‘promising love’ over the internet.
He said: “Previous relationships and experiences can shape one’s expectations, trust issues, communication styles, and attachment patterns. However, that make us susceptible to someone promising love.”
“It’s tempting to ignore doubts and see what we want to see being the promises of a relationship, this cognitive process is known as “betrayal blindness”. Romance fraudsters prey on and exploit the insecurities, gaining trust over prolonged periods of time before money is transferred either in the form of gifts or through a request for help.”
“We have been very lucky in that we have managed to secure a refund for Lyn. Every penny we are able to successfully recover in these investigations is a huge step forward in showing scammers that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated.”
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