Alicia* is in her fifties, she returned to the Côte d'Azur after a breakup and decided to register on a dating site.
After several exchanges, she falls in love with a fake wine seller.
This man stole money from her and several other women.
Today, she wants to “alert other possible victims of this scammer”.
Her story resembles that of the Netflix documentary
The Tinder Scammer
, and yet she hasn't "even seen it."
Last summer, Alicia*, in her fifties, had just broken up and returned to live on the Côte d'Azur.
In emotional distress, she decides to register on Say tomorrow, a dating site for the over 50s.
While she thought she had found the ideal man, the only thing she wants today is “that he finds himself behind bars and that he can never do it again”.
By delivering her testimony, she knows that she is exposing herself to derogatory comments.
She prefers to remain anonymous, still ashamed of what happened to her, but wants to be able to "help possible victims".
“In one year, this man, of whom we ultimately know nothing, took 65,000 euros from four women, if not more!
That's why we decided to file a complaint and publicize the story.
Together, we can have a stronger impact and hope to get it stuck!
»
“The sooner he settled this case, the sooner we saw each other”
The story begins in August, when, under the profile "Romantic" and the name of "Dimitri M.", a man contacts her on this Meetic site.
“He was very attentive and shared his life with me a lot, it's rare!
“recalls Alicia.
He calls himself an oenologist in Bordeaux, sends him his so-called website.
She then lets herself be "carried away" and they exchange their WhatsApp numbers.
Two weeks later, this fake wine seller tells his virtual lover that he is going to Kosovo to sign a contract worth almost two million euros.
“It was in early September that he asked me to lend him money for the first time.
He said that to recover his goods at customs, he needed 5,000 euros.
I was so sad to see him hurt that I made him an express transfer of 3,900 euros.
It was all my savings”.
What convinced her was “that he had promised to come and meet me after this trip.
The sooner he settled this case, the sooner we saw each other.
He played a lot on it, ”she breathes helplessly.
"Everything seemed real"
The requests continue.
“He needed 1,500 euros to open an account in Kosovo and receive the money from his sale.
L'Azuréenne sends PCS coupons, these tickets to be purchased from a tobacconist which allow cards to be credited, the cash of which can be withdrawn from distributors abroad in complete anonymity.
She sends him six for 250 euros.
Alicia continues: “It may sound crazy but he seemed honest to me.
He sent me an IOU with his [fake] ID.
He had even sent me a link from a bank, with his codes, where I could see that he had received the transaction and even a copy of his contract.
There were all the elements to reassure me.
He promised me that he would reimburse me as soon as he returned.
Everything seemed real.
I dealt with a professional.
One day a close friend sent me a link to a scam site with his photo.
When I transferred to him, he sent me two PCS coupons for 250 euros to argue that he was not a scammer.
»
But the Azurean begins to be wary when he claims 18,000 euros.
“This time it was too much.
He assured that it was lawyer's fees, necessary to release the sum on his Kosovo account.
I felt the scam.
I haven't paid anything anymore.
Anyway, I had nothing left.
She decides to reverse the situation and maintain contact to be sure that he reimburses her for what she had lent him.
A fake number that brings you closer
Months pass, "Dimitri" is still in Kosovo, and all of a sudden, in mid-December, there is no more news.
"He didn't answer me anymore," says Alicia.
I tried to call his professional number given on his site, I came across Matthias who explained to me that I had gotten the wrong number.
This 30-year-old man lives in Nantes and has "absolutely nothing to do with this scammer", he assures.
“Since July, I received several calls and messages where this Dimitri was asked to answer, with words of love, relates in turn the Nantes man.
I answered that this number had to be reallocated.
Until Christmas Day, when someone said that they were destroyed, that they had stolen money.
I called her and realized that this fake wine seller was a real scammer.
»
Matthias then decides to recontact the people who had asked him and to create a WhatsApp group so that they can talk to each other and possibly set up a legal case.
The two French women and two Swiss cheated then became friends and support each other in this story.
Some had made loans of several thousand euros for him.
Alicia resumes: “I am ashamed of myself, I have been manipulated and I know that many do not understand how I could be so naive.
It's as if I was no longer myself, bewitched.
It's true that having these other women with me is a way of healing me.
»
"This story is a trauma that will follow me for a long time," concludes Alicia.
Still on the Say tomorrow site, where she reported the “Romantic” account, she remains in search of love even if now, “I ask to see the person directly and I am very suspicious,” she smiles sadly.
Society
They were looking for love and get scammed... All about romance scams
Nice
At 80, he uses his charm to scam elderly people
Society
Scam
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Love
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