Women fleeced in online dating
Fraudsters in West Africa play on victims’ emotions, swindling them out of millions of dollars.
Published On 27 Dec 2010
Britain’s fraud office estimates nearly $100m is lost every year to fraudsters who scan online dating sites looking for vulnerable victims.
Scammers, often based in West Africa, target women while posing as deployed US or UK soldiers in foreign countries. Months into the relationship, they start asking for money.
Fraud officers say the women are not stupid. The scammers have years of experience concocting tales of hardship that can be fixed by a wire transfer.
Al Jazeera’s Jessica Baldwin reports.
Source: Al Jazeera