Be on your guard for love scams

A PREDATORY con man, who gambled away the life savings of more than five women, was jailed for 17 years this week.

- by Katie Elliott

Posing as a successful businessman, Nigel Baker, 56, targeted divorced single mums on dating websites like Plenty of Fish and convinced them to hand over more than £900,000.The sentence is thought to be the longest imposed in the UK ever for romance fraud. And it's thoroughly deserved. Romance scams are among the most devastating frauds, shattering trust and emptying bank accounts of often very vulnerable people. With artificial intelligence making fake profiles, photos and even calls more realistic and convincing, the problem is only getting worse.