Melba met a man online who claimed to be from South Africa. They struck up a relationship and she ended up sending the man $6,000 – her life savings. She never heard from him again and feels "used and abused" by the man she thought she loved.
Paul, a retired grazier from remote central Queensland, met a woman named 'Selina', from Ghana, through an online dating website. They struck up a relationship and Paul told Selina "everything". Then one day Paul received a phone call from a man claiming to be Selina's brother. The man told Paul that Selina had been hit by a car and had suffered a brain haemorrhage and he asked Paul for $1200 to cover the costs of the operation.
This contact continued for months and the scammers used Paul's perceived relationship with Selina to convince him to help her village through gold refining and butter processing. Over this extended period of time, Paul gave Selina and her accomplices over $200,000. Of course none of Paul's money ever reached the village. Paul says he is hurt that he couldn't help the people of the village.
This video tells the stories of Melba and Paul and shows how scammers use internet dating websites to con unsuspecting daters into sending them large sums of money. It also provides some important tips from an online dating agency and police on how to protect yourself when dating online.
Find out more about online dating and romance scams and how to protect yourself from these scams.
