I was naive, says victim

[crippen]

I was naive, says victim of £10,000 dating fraud
Terry Kirby
23.06.10




A LEARNING support assistant today revealed how she transferred more than £10,000 to a man she met on a dating website before realising she had become the victim of a scam.

The fraudster told Elana Brown, 46, of Ruislip, he was an American officer in Afghanistan who needed a loan to help a wounded fellow soldier.

Mrs Brown, who met the man on the Jewish dating site JDate, said: "I was hypnotised by him. I trusted him because he kept sending me messages and phoning me to tell me he was in love with me. He persuaded me he was a good man and that he would never hurt me. I was naive."

Her bank manager warned that she could be the victim of a fraud but she continued to send payments for two months. The man spoke with an American accent and an accomplice pretended to be a US army financial officer. Mrs Brown realised he was a conman when he stopped responding to her emails and calls. The divorced mother of two, who used up much of her savings and took out extra loans, said: "I now have serious financial problems."

Mrs Brown has passed telephone numbers and details of email accounts and Western Union money transfers to the Met police, although she has now complained to the Independent Police Complaints Commission about how long the investigation is taking.

Victims of similar tricks have posted their experiences on dating advice websites. They describe how fraudsters sometimes use the identities of real officers from MySpace or Facebook. One woman posted: "Please don't be taken in with this man - he is too good to be true and is just a fantasy of all that we women would want in a man!"

The Serious and Organised Crime Squad said one woman from West Yorkshire remortgaged her house to send £45,000 to a bogus US officer who claimed he needed the money to pay off a kidnapper in Iraq. The money was traced to the account of a man in Ghana who was subsequently arrested.

A spokeswoman for Soca said: "This is becoming a very common scam but awareness of this is increasing I was naive, says victim of £10,000 dating fraud | News

[Stinky]

All sorts of cliche's spring to mind, I'll go with the one about a fool and his money being lucky to get together in the first place

[ItsRobsLife]

Desperate more like.

[baldrick]

had a chick? on yahoo last night telling me she wanted to get married so she could access an 8 mill inheritance - I would have said yes , then she sent me some photos and I am not partial to bottle blondes

[withnallstoke]

One look in the mirror would have given an idea it was a false love. Dozy old boot.

[HollyGoodhead]

Wow... more money than sense it seems.

[ItsRobsLife]

Or looks..

[the dogcatcher]

Sure that ein't a man?

[Fondles]

Jesus wept she's fuckin ugly.

[PaulBunyon]

10k isn't financial ruin. She just has to get off her fat ass and work a bit harder. People lose that kind of money all the time through regular purchases like cars, homes, investments, etc etc. I wonder if Hamas is working the Jewish ladies over on this Jdate to support their rocket program in Lebanon. Those darn Africans are real crafty shiesters!

[bretby]

At least the lady has admitted that she was naive.

There are some very persuasive con men out there and not all people are as worldly wise as our TeakDoor members and even some of us can be caught at times.

More emphasis should be made by the authorities to bring to task the cowardly bastards that perpetuate these con tricks and make examples of them.

10K GBP is a lot of money to some people and I guess that at least one lady has learned a big lesson.

[zygote1]

Sure that ein't a man?

I had the same thought. Either that or the hormones following the surgery haven't worked. Poor fella.

[superman]

Some of yous on here think you're perfect, but in reality, are only with their wife/girlfriend 'cause of the money you have ? She had a dream. The same as a lot have farangs have when coming to Thailand. She doesn't need knocking.

[withnallstoke]

Some of yous on here think you're perfect, but in reality, are only with their wife/girlfriend 'cause of the money they have

What money? She's as skint as me.

[Little Chuchok]

had a chick? on yahoo last night telling me she wanted to get married so she could access an 8 mill inheritance - I would have said yes , then she sent me some photos and I am not partial to bottle blondes

so whens the wedding...

[superman]

then she sent me some photos

If the story is genuine, which I'm sure it is, you'll be posting them ?

[superman]

then she sent me some photos

Sorry the above post was quoted wrong.

[CaptainNemo]

the fact that s/he's not shy about telling the world all about it speaks volumes.

[superman]

the fact that s/he's not shy about telling the world all about it speaks volumes.

And those volumes are.... ?

[Poo and Pee]

You gotta feel sorry for people who get suckered like this.

The people who prey on lonely vunerable people like this are human scum. They must groom them for months - getting to know their victims well in the process.

Dispicable

[Lorenzo]

The fraudster told Elana Brown, 46, of Ruislip, he was an American officer in Afghanistan who needed a loan to help a wounded fellow soldier. Mrs Brown, who met the man on the Jewish dating site JDate, said:

JDate lol .... very dumb, no jews in Afghanistan , no jews serving in the military - unless there are some secrets to steal ofcourse

One look in the mirror would have given an idea it was a false love. Dozy old boot.

given her looks £10,000 for a date is a bargain

[SiamLovinIt]

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