In a chilling reminder of the dark side of the digital age, a 75-year-old pensioner uncovered a devastating scam that wiped out his entire life savings.
A man who chose to remain anonymous has told of the heart-wrenching experience he had when he was conned by an internet fraudster posing as a glamorous 37-year-old woman from San Francisco. What began as a seemingly innocent exchange about shared interests in cooking and travel soon escalated into a calculated scam that defrauded him of $715,000. The fraudster’s manipulation and emotional deception not only ruined the pensioner financially but also shook him emotionally. This story sheds light on the sophisticated tactics used by scammers and serves as a sobering reminder to remain vigilant in a time when trust can be easily abused.
A 75-year-old pensioner has described the heartbreaking moment he discovered he had been defrauded of all his life savings.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Wall Street Journal how he made contact with an Internet person who claimed to be a 37-year-old Chinese woman living in San Francisco.
She began by complimenting his LinkedIn profile and struck up a conversation about their shared interests in cooking and travel.
After her assurance that they would be “extremely happy” in the future, the man expressed his love for the woman in texts that Unilad managed to collect.
In one of the texts, she said: “Maybe because I had a few glasses of wine with my boyfriend, that’s why I’m saying this.” “But I really thank God for allowing me to meet you.
After the two struck up a relationship, the scammer began informing the man about her “uncle’s” business, from which she had amassed a small fortune.
She also managed to convince him to invest his life savings – a whopping $715,000 – into fictitious trading income over many months.
The woman assured him that they would use the profits from his investment to get married and move in together.
She kept encouraging the man to “trust me” and shaming him for never asking her.
To illustrate, one text message read: “Your distrust of me has made me feel like an unstable man again.”
She also posted the following message: “I feel like all my sincerity and good intentions have been wasted. All I want is to finalize our plans and future goals.”
However, the pensioner lost the money and he never heard from the woman again after the transfer was completed.
The last he heard from her after a painful string of unanswered texts was a text in September in which she said she “wanted nothing to do with him anymore” and that his “mind was terrible”.
He has since come to terms with the fact that he was the victim of a terrible scam and will not get his money back.
The man also reported the incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, which will investigate the matter.
Following this disturbing revelation, the pensioner’s story serves as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of online fraud. His experiences highlight not only the personal betrayal and financial ruin caused by such fraud, but also underscore the need for vigilance and skepticism in digital interactions. Despite the emotional and financial loss, the man’s decision to report the crime to the Internet Crime Complaint Center is an important step in seeking justice and preventing similar incidents in the future. As authorities investigate, it remains a compelling example of how fraud programs can exploit trust and vulnerability, highlighting the importance of protecting personal and financial information from malicious actors.