A Vancouver man lost A$500,000 to online scammers and a long-term fake romance he had with a man through a dating site.
The fraudsters behind the scam are believed to be based in London and one of them is believed to have been arrested by British police. The money, which was the victim's savings, is unlikely to be recovered.
The victim, referred to only by the pseudonym “Tony” in the CBC News from Canada, met a man on a dating site and then began chatting via Yahoo! Messenger. And so the “romance blossomed.”
Having laid the groundwork, Tony's new love claimed that he had been left in Malaysia without money. Tony then, to help, started sending money until the amount reached half a million dollars.
Then he realized that he had been the victim of fraud and decided to contact the Police.
The human need for companionship has always been a weapon in the hands of fraudsters. The rise of online dating sites has not gone unnoticed, of course.
“Romance” scams have become an industry and huge sums of money are lost every year.
