North Texas Woman Loses Thousands Of Dollars To Online Romance Scam
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - "Michelle" as we are calling her wants to protect her identity, but she says the person she was communicating with online took advantage of her kindness and robbed her of thousands of dollars.
"It's not so much about me personally," she says.
She wants everyone to be learn from her mistakes.
"There are women out there that have lost, enormous amounts of money," she says. "And not just the financial loss that they've suffered, but also the emotional loss that they've suffered as well."
In 2021, the woman says she was vulnerable, going through a rough patch in her life. Suffering from depression, she shut everyone out and found companionship in a person who called himself Thomas Elton.
Elton was persistent in pursuing a relationship she said. "I felt bad because he sent me this message that was like, 'I just want to talk to you.' "
Thus, she responded back.
"They just know all the right things to say," she says about her experience. "It's incredible. I've never met anybody as charming as this false person."
Elton, it turns out was a fake, only after her money. And even though her gut cautioned danger, she went through with it.
She said he sent pictures of what he looked like, which later turned out to be pictures taken off the internet of a famous physician in Turkey.
Eventually, she sent the man about $5,000 in wire transfers and gift cards.
Attorney with the Federal Trade Administration in the Southwest Region, Reid Tepfer, says this is a growing problem.
In a report released last week, the FTC says in the past five years people have reported losing $1.3 billion to romance scams (more than any other fraud category at the FTC.)
In 2021 alone, consumers lost $547 million in romance scams with more than 56,000 victims reporting.
"They are good at what they do," Tepfer says. "They tug at your heart-strings and tell compelling stories."
He says it is hard to prosecute scammers because wire transfers, gift cards and cryptocurrency are difficult to trace.
Monica Horton at the Better Business Bureau says the loss is more than just financial, and it's not always the vulnerable who fall prey.
"Anybody can be scammed and if you are thinking that you are not able to be scammed you need to look out because there is something out there, everybody is susceptible," she says.
So how can you spot scammers if you're looking for love online? Here are some tips from the FTC:
1) Nobody legit will ever ask you to help by sending cryptocurrency, giving the numbers on a gift card, or by wiring money. Anyone who does is a scammer.
2) Never send or forward money for someone you haven't met in person, and don't act on their investment advice.
3) Talk to friends or family about a new love interest and pay attention if they're concerned.
3) Try a reverse-image search of profile pictures. If the details don't match up, it's a scam.
