A new victim of “romantic fraud” .. a British woman loses 300 thousand pounds because of love
Sophia had no idea that she would find herself owed £300,000 after giving the money to a man she thought would be her life partner.
Sophia told the BBC that she had been a victim of what she called a "romantic fraud".
Sophia and the man she thought was her partner started talking about buying a house together, without ever meeting him.
When Sophia recalls what happened to her, she feels very bitter that she has been told "a lot of lies" about what her future will be.
She says he gave her fake mortgage documents and emails that he claimed were correspondence between him and lawyers.
He was selling it a dream, and Sophia was buying this illusion and the dream in every sense of the word.
Sophia sent Aaron huge sums of money that she requested as part of their future plans to buy a house.
“I got thousands in loans plus my entire savings, which is about £60,000 and then borrowed a lot of money from family and friends,” Sophia says. In total, Sophia says she sent him about £300,000.
Sophia is not the only one to fall victim to romance scams. According to UK Finance, there was a 20% increase in bank transfer scams linked to romance scams, between 2019 and 2020.
Sophia was held hostage by the dream he promised until Aaron asked for an additional £50,000, when Sophia decided it was time to question his intentions.
She called her bank, as she thought she had a joint account with Aaron, but they told her her name was not on the account.
She says, "I felt that the ground had collapsed under my feet... I couldn't believe it... I felt as if I was in a very disturbing dream, but it is a nightmare."
Sophia goes on to say: "You watch other people's stories, read about them and hear them, but you feel that this will not happen to you, but in fact it happens, and because of emotional devastation you do not realize that you are under the control of a fraudster."
Sophia began investigating and researching her fictitious partner, to see if he worked where he said he worked.
“When I contacted the place where he claimed to work, they told me that no one had that name, and the man I spoke to only said to me: hang up immediately and call the police immediately.”
Sofia followed the advice and called the police.
Throughout this period, Sophia was suffering from psychological and nervous pressure. "I had to take an emergency leave for a week because I was very disoriented and turbulent... The emotional shock and pain I felt every time I looked into my family's eyes were more than I could bear."
But Sophia is now happy to be out of that difficult period. She says, "My debts have been paid, all my loans have been paid off, and I have restored my relationship with all my family and friends."
"Even though I'm financially strapped, I can now move on with my life," she says.
But Sophia does not want her experience to be in vain, and hopes it will benefit as many people as possible to be aware of the dangers of trusting those who use dating apps.
It also hopes that others who may face a similar situation know their rights especially when it comes to dealing with banks to get their money back.
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romantic fraud