South Yorkshire widow conned out of £10,000 by romance fraud scammer

The 61-year-old, from Rotherham, was contacted on Facebook by the offender who claimed to be called Darren, and said he worked in the construction industry in the US.

The pair soon started chatting on Facebook - unbeknown to the woman, ‘Darren’ had other intentions.

After the woman revealed that she had lost her husband five years ago, the offender said, ‘I'll be here for you, you can always talk to me.’

The victim who has been using the name Jane said: “He just said all the things I wanted to hear, I thought he was genuine - I thought I was getting to know somebody, and we were going to meet.”

'Darren' soon encouraged her to start chatting on WhatsApp, which has a higher level of encryption - meaning his scam was less likely to be detected – then one day, he asked her to send him £50.

“He said that his work mates had put their money together for a plane ticket for him to come and visit me, and he needed £50 towards paying them back,” Jane explained.

A couple of weeks later, the offender asked for a further £100 to pay some airport fees, leading her to transfer more money.

Over the coming months, the amounts became larger until Jane had sent him a total of £10,300.

She said: “The last time I heard from him, he said he was in Liverpool in a hotel, but he couldn't leave because he didn't have enough money.

“I sent him £500 and said that was all I had left, I told him I had nothing left, and then I never heard from him again.”

Jane's son warned his mum about the scam and eventually persuaded her to report what had happened to Action Fraud.

She added: “My family had said it was all a fix, but I wouldn't listen to them, I thought that I'd met someone special and didn't want anyone else interfering.

“My son said if this man had done this to me, he'll be doing it to other people too.”

Jane has been unable to recover any of her money, which was her inheritance from her late mother.

She is now worried about how she will put food on the table and has been relying on food parcels from her son and the local food bank.

The stress has led her to drop to just six stone in weight, and she is struggling to sleep due to her worries.

She has been visited by South Yorkshire Police who have offered advice and support and put her in touch with her local food bank and other support agencies.

Jane said: "To anyone else out there I'd just say be careful - and as soon as they ask for money just say you haven't got it. I wish I'd done that. It's really upset me, I feel stupid. I got sucked in."

Have you been a victim of romance fraud? Report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or online at www.actionfraud.police.uk.