I thought I met the perfect guy on a dating app but he swindled me out of hundreds of pounds – if it works for me, it could happen to you
A woman thought the single dad and wealthy businessman she met online were a match for her — but it turns out he’s been using her for a romance scam.
Speaking on This Morning Claire Spencer revealed that in 2021 she met ‘Jack’ on dating app Plenty of Fish and £1,000 was ordered within three weeks.
The scammer pretended to be stuck in Cambodia – and had his wallet stolen – and became “aggressive” when his victim was reluctant to offer any money.
Jack even suggested that she sell her car or take out a loan, just to save him from an emergency.
Eventually, Claire reluctantly borrows £500 from a friend to be able to send the money through.
Speaking on This Morning Claire Spencer (pictured) revealed she met Jack in 2021 on dating app Plenty of Fish and £1,000 was ordered within three weeks.
“It humiliated me the most,” she told Philip Scofield and Rochelle Humes, “I was so devastated.”
At the time I felt completely violated… You know, how naive can you be?
“But as people who have known me for years have said to me: ‘Lord of all people, how? “.
Jack claimed to be a “hotel builder” with a son and dogs – they lived in the same town as Claire.
“Kids and dogs, same kind of story as mine,” she told the program.
“We were frequenting the same kind of restaurants… I asked him what his favorite was at one point and, unbeknownst to me, I had sent him a picture of my favourite…and he used that, without even thinking.”
“He determined that.”
She admits there are “some red flags” but also makes it clear that it’s easy to get overly overwhelmed.
Consumer expert and presenter Alexis Conran (pictured) urged viewers to stay vigilant while looking for love online.
The scammer pretended to be stuck in Cambodia – and had his arm stolen – and became “aggressive” when his victim was reluctant to offer any money.
They convince you that, ‘Yeah, it’s okay… I’ll be back soon,'” Claire said.
Jack was also using photos of an Italian model to impress her – the fairy tale romance was shattered once a friend of hers realized she had seen him elsewhere.
Consumer expert and presenter Alexis Conran urged viewers to be vigilant while looking for love online.
“This is a relationship that starts online through dating apps or a website,” he explained.
“You usually have someone who presents themselves as someone who is not in the same country, unavailable… ex-military, support workers… business people… and then that relationship forms and begins.”
The key point, he says, comes when “at some point, there is a fabricated emergency… which requires the victim to send money.”
Be wary of sending money to anyone you haven’t met in person — and encourage online daters to use Google’s reverse image search, which allows you to track down a photo if it’s already online.
