More and more women are falling victim to dating scams that are leaving them traumatised and often destitute. Here, three women share their stories.
Online romance scams cause more than just a string of broken hearts – they can lead to years of emotional trauma, financial destitution and even homelessness. Almost 4000 dating and romance scams were reported by Australians to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch body in 2019, with the average loss more than $19,000 – close to $30 million in all. And while this amount may seem huge, according to ACCC deputy chair, Delia Rickard, it’s just “the tip of the iceberg”.
But I was flattered, I suppose, because he told me I was beautiful and he was nice to me. He promised to cook and clean for me, and said that we would travel around Australia together. We spoke on the phone and even video-chatted – and he did look like the man in the picture. I went on a dating site about eight years ago and connected with a man who called himself Charles. He said he was a vet working in Sydney. We were going to meet up, but he was called over to a farm in the UAE to immunise livestock. He made up an excuse about not being able to access medication after it was seized at the dock, and asked for $5000 for help.
Finally, he suggested we Skype and I saw he was an African man, not Charles. My father had just died and that was the final straw for me. I cut off contact and reported it to police. I moved to Melbourne to be closer to family when I was 59. Everything was going well and I had a good corporate job, so I decided to start looking for companionship, someone I could explore Victoria with.
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