I was completely bewitched - I believed everything'

Retired professor Nikki MacLeod reveals how a romance scam left her broken-hearted and £13,000 out of pocket

- WORDS: HANNAH BRITT

Nikki MacLeod never thought she'd be fooled by an online dating scam but aged 77, and just out of a 25-year relationship, the retired professor of neuroscience was lonely and vulnerable.

“In June 2024, I started talking to people on Facebook, desperate to connect,” she says. “A beautiful woman called Alla Morgan sent me a message. She said she was in her mid-30s and a sailor who worked on an offshore oil rig. She was stunning.

“We talked and talked. I fell head over heels in love. When I thought she was too good to be true, she sent me a video to prove her feelings for me.”

But Alla Morgan was not real. She'd been created by scammers, who used Al to make the video.

Her likeness was stolen from Sophie Baviere, a real-life sailor with a large online following.

Nikki was one of a growing number of people who've been tricked by cruel romance cons, with criminals increasingly using Al to give their stories extra depth.

According to Crimestoppers, £106million was lost to romance fraud in the UK last year.

Online security firm McAfee says nearly three-quarters of those who encountered scammers did so on dating apps, followed by social media, text and email. And Barclays says one in 10 adults has been targeted, or knows someone who has - with romance scams up a fifth in 2025 compared with last year.