Woman scammed of £113,000

[Blueberrywhirl320]

I read this article in the paper today about a 50 year old British woman who's been scammed out of £113,000 from an online love from Ukraine, someone who she never met.
How is it possible for people still to fall for scams like this in 2021 when there's been numerous of programmes on the TV about it, newspaper reports. I honestly don't get how you can send a stranger who you've never met money or your bank details.

@Blueberrywhirl320

I read it online aswell

It's very sad people are so desperate to find love that they resort to that isn't it? I have no idea why anyone would send someone money that they'd never even met tho.
X

These scammers are professional.

@omgthepain me either. It's mad that women & men keeping falling for it.

No stranger can scam you out of what you won’t willingly give away.

Different maybe if someone is being manipulated by someone close to them, but this woman had never clapped eyes on this person/people.

Unfortunately some people just aren’t very bright.

I do struggle to sympathise with a lot of the people that get scammed. Like a PP said, they seen to be so desperate for love that they ignore the warnings from friends and family.

I would never send that amount of money to my closest friends, never mind someone who I have never met.

They must realise, even if they are in denial.

There’s something very odd about that story, I did wonder if she lost the money via some less sympathy inducing method (gambling maybe) and invented this story to cover her tracks?

People always think they are different.

And the scammers are extremely professional.

It makes me sad that these people are so desperate to be loved that they lose any sence of what's normal in a relationship.
It makes me wonder what happened in their life to make them so blinded.

@TheQueef I understand that they're very good at what they do but I don't understand why alarm bells didn't start ringing?

Yes. But then I also don’t understand all the posts that say “text from Royal Mail saying I have to pay £2, is this a scam”. They are so clearly scams, how does anyone fall for them?

@2tired2bewitty I never thought of that. But why would she publicly humiliate herself if the story wasn't true?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9439981/amp/Former-police-officer-scammed-500k-romance-fraudsters.html
This one is beyond ridiculous 🙄

She might be a bit vulnerable. I have a relative who has some specific learning needs and I can completely see her getting involved in something like this.

It is interesting when you read about what happens when people are scammed. Every time they get to the point that alarm bells are sounding the scammer has anticipated this and supplies an answer that has just about enough plausibility and enough emotional draw to get to the next level.

I wonder why it happens but don’t judge. If it didn’t work the scammers wouldn’t bother.

@ShirleyPhallus I don't understand how they fall for them either. Especially when they've got family warning them not to send money, that it's a scam etc & they don't listen! Surely it's their own fault?

I read this and wondered the same. I just don't get it! Surely alarm bells would ring??? Some of the details of this particular story just didn't seem at all plausible either, didn't he tell he had been trapped in a cupboard or cellar by his attackers who were demanding money??

@HerMammy I remember reading about that scam. I definitely don't understand how a former police officer fall for a scam like that?

It happened to my friend's mum a few years ago. She was recently windowed and had inherited a few million. She fell for a man from The Gambia who was 20 years younger. They got married and two years later he filed for divorce then asked for maintenance and a pension. Everyone else saw it coming but there was nothing they could do to stop her.

@Hellawelshy I thought exactly the same. He's been kidnapped & the kidnappers are demanding money but they've let him access a computer or phone so he call the police..... Duh?

But he doesn't ring the police, he contacts her & asks her for money???

I always wonder where they get their money from. All these women who are scammed seem to have tens of thousands or have just sold a million pound house.

Such a lot of money to want to give to someone who they think is in need of it. I'm afraid I would be really hard and not give a penny.

It's willful ignorance or wishful thinking to some extent - that it's real romance, that the person just needs help with this one payment... this one more thing... just another little bit more (maybe take a loan?) and then they'll come to whisk them off their feet.
You see often enough on here that people don't want to see the truth in front of their eyes about a partner. In a romance scam layer on the flattery and promises as well as an element of 'sunk cost' fallacy and of course the long distance partner is in it for real because they have to be - the alternative is humiliation and misery, so it's really real... Right?

Heartbreaking.

@TheUnquestionedAnswer it is a lot of money. The scary thing is that everytime one of these stories is reported, it always is a lot of money they've been scammed out of.
Alarm bells would've rung as soon as they asked for money.