A prolific conman who conned women out of thousands of pounds through false promises of love and a lavish lifestyle is currently serving the last of his prison sentences – and police believe there may be hundreds of victims still living with the consequences. of his lies.
Over the past 20 years, Raymond McDonald, 51, from Country Durham, has been in and out of prison several times and is believed to be one of Britain’s most prolific romance fraudsters.
This was first when he was convicted of fraud in 2003 before he began running romance scams.
After being released from prison in December last year, he soon began dating several women at the same time whom he met through dating sites.
Raymond McDonald, 51, from Country Durham, has been in and out of prison several times.
After being released from prison in December last year, he soon began dating several women at the same time whom he met through dating sites.
He swindled money from them and even tried to marry one of the victims.
However, it wasn’t long before he returned to jail in August following more scams that left his victims to pick up the pieces.
These women have now decided to speak and have described the bbc The level of trauma they have felt is similar to that of sexual assault and domestic abuse.
One of the victims who spoke to the station said she met McDonald last December through a dating site.
He told her that over Christmas he would be working at a secret military post, training foreign soldiers, but that he wanted to keep in touch with her over the holiday season.
The woman recounted: ‘(He) just made you feel, I don’t know, loved. Special. It had been a long time since I had a relationship. I guess, in retrospect, that’s what I wanted to hear.
However, it later turned out that McDonald was not just talking to Paula, he entered into relationships with several women, arranged a meeting and told them that he had just gotten divorced and was starting a new job.
One claimed that McDonald had told him that he had to be on duty at the probation service in the afternoons, when in fact he was reporting to the probation service himself.
Every woman who approached him described him at first as warm, genuine, and even vulnerable.
However, in the midst of all this, he took money from them to pay for things that would never materialize, such as luxury goods or deposits on houses, while his victims believed he had properties abroad as well as luxury cars.
While maintaining the relationship, McDonald traveled to the Middle East to marry his partner, with whom he had only been dating for weeks.
Police believe McDonald paid for the trip with money swindled from other victims while making arrangements and showing his partner false evidence that their marriage was legal under local law.
While in the relationship, McDonald, pictured, traveled to the Middle East to marry her partner, with whom she had only been dating for weeks.
She never had reason to think it was all a farce, but they returned from their “honeymoon” in March, just four months after he was released from prison.
However, McDonald wasn’t fooling everyone, as some of them had begun to suspect who he was, and Paula was worried enough to use Clare’s Law, which people can use to request information about previous crimes. of your partner.
Another victim also began interrogating his victims after he pressured her to pay him more money to trade luxury gods who never showed up and accepted a friend’s proposal to post about him in a Facebook group called ‘Are We Dating?’ with the same boy?’ – and the responses he received were shocking.
One of the users showed the victim a newspaper article describing McDonald as a “coward”, which was seen by his victim.
While her new husband was sitting in another room, she read the comments and said, “My world just fell apart.”
While her new husband was sitting in another room, she read the comments and said, “My world just fell apart.”
She made an excuse to leave and immediately called the police, and he was arrested hours later.
His own mother describes him as a ‘big liar’ and a ‘phony’, revealing that he told the women he cheated on that she had died and even pretended to go to her funeral on Valentine’s Day.
He also claimed that McDonald had even once gathered his relatives, to whom he also had a habit of lying, claiming that he was dying.
“I’ve had two nervous breakdowns because of him,” he added.
So who is the real Raymond McDonald?
He was dishonorably discharged from the military in 2000 and briefly worked in a supermarket and factory packing chickens, but soon began committing fraud.
He earned his first prison sentence in 2003, followed by a suspended sentence four years later, plus four more prison terms.
Released during his sentence in 2019, he immediately began scamming another woman and was recalled to prison.
In the latest case, within two weeks of his release last December, he was back on dating sites selecting targets, devastating women once they found the truth.
One said: “My whole world fell apart.”
Another said detectives once showed up at her door and explained what had happened, saying she “couldn’t get out of bed.”
Detective Saad Sheban, the latest to put the scammer behind bars, described him as a “serial scammer” who “preys on women” looking for a “life partner.”
“People normally think ‘dangerous’ is someone who can hurt you physically, make you bleed, but Raymond hurts people emotionally.”
Detective Con Sheban added there could be “hundreds” more victims living with the consequences of McDonad’s lies.
Dr Elisabeth Carter, who advises police on grooming methods for offenders, said victims often feel shame.
She said: ‘Not only have they lost their money. This person was right in front of them lying to their faces.’
She added that the impact on victims of romance fraud is “similar to the psychological impact of rape and other types of sexual abuse.”
Following the latest arrest in March, McDonald initially denied any wrongdoing but later pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation and was jailed for four and a half years at New Castle Crown Court in August.
The judge noted that the emotional impact on the women was far greater than the financial loss suffered.