Warning after victim of romance scam loses £130,000

STAFFORDSHIRE Police have issued a warning after a vulnerable woman lost more than £100,000 to a fraudster pretending to be a well-known celebrity tech-businessman.

- By JOSEPH RICHARDS

The romance scam saw the woman, who said on her profile she was interested in technology, contacted via Facebook by a man purporting to be a celebrity entrepreneur.

Over a period of two months, the scammer claimed he planned to come to the UK where he hoped he would be able to settle down with the victim.

He claimed that, because of his notoriety, he could not use his own bank accounts to make these plans, so asked the victim to send him money from her account, which he said he would return.

The man duped the victim into remortgaging her house and sending him a total of £130,000, while making numerous excuses as to why he could not come to the UK.