“Patrick”, the fake UN employee

In August 2022, 76-year-old Erika (name changed) received her first message via Facebook Messenger. A man seeks contact with her and ingratiates himself. He introduces himself as “Patrick”, claims to be a UN employee in Pakistan and over the course of several weeks he gains the senior citizen’s trust.

Via Facebook Messenger comes: “How are you?” or “How was your day?”

At first he writes harmless messages: “How are you?” or “How was your day?” As the weeks go by, the conversations between the two become more intimate. Finally, the man confesses his feelings to the 76-year-old. Things are going well for Patrick - Erika has taken the bait and now trusts him. Time to get some loot, he thinks. So he tells Erika a touching story:

A large sum of cash

He is said to be waiting for a package containing a large sum of cash. However, this package was confiscated by customs. Patrick needs money to redeem it, he says. But things are a little tight for him financially right now...

Erika wants to help.

She first buys an Apple voucher for 100 euros and sends “Patrick” the code. But that's not enough, suddenly the man demands a five-figure sum from Erika. The elderly woman is desperate. What should she do, she doesn't have that much money. If she doesn't help him, might he turn away from her again?

She grasps at the last straw

The savings for your own funeral. Erika buys four-digit vouchers and sends the codes. But that's not enough: Patrick wants more money. The senior becomes afraid and begins to doubt: about herself, about Patrick. Finally she informs the police.

The story happened like this in the last few weeks. This type of scam is called “love scamming” or “romance scamming”. The Duisburg police have started the investigation.

Are you also affected?

Break off contact and report it to the police. You can also contact the Duisburg Police Department for Crime Prevention and Victim Protection ( https://duisburg.polizei.nrw/polizeilicher-opferschutz ) or the Weisser Ring ( https://weisser-ring.de/internet criminalitaet ).

The police colleagues in Gütersloh have also dealt with the topic: https://guetersloh.polizei.nrw/artikel/literarische-Krimipraevention-hoerbuecher-nach-dem-guetersloher-modell and https://guetersloh.polizei.nrw/ media/audio book romance scamming

Also read: Advance fee fraud on Facebook. This is how users are deprived of their money.

“Love or romance scamming” usually follows the same or a similar pattern

  1. The perpetrators contact their victims on online dating sites or social networks. They use fake profiles to pretend to be someone. To do this, they use real photos and fake CVs.
  2. At the beginning of the contact, the perpetrator showers the future victim with compliments and expressions of love. He gives the victim increased attention for a longer period of time in order to build trust and create emotional dependence in the victim.
  3. After a certain time, the perpetrator uses the victim's previously acquired trust and asks for help in the form of financial donations. These are intended to serve a wide variety of scenarios, such as treating a child's illness or planning to emigrate to Germany and get to know each other in person.
  4. The victims then usually make multiple transfers of various amounts of money to the perpetrators until they realize that they have been deceived. Because of feelings of shame, victims often remain silent for a long time and only report the fraud late. The money is lost.

How can you protect yourself?

  • Talk to people close to you about your new online acquaintance.
  • Do your own research in advance using the information available to you on the Internet.
  • Never transfer any amounts of money or send personal information to anyone you have never met in person before.
  • If you have already become a victim of such fraud, contact a police station in your area immediately and break off contact with the perpetrators immediately!

We have also written numerous articles on the subject of love and romance scamming. You can find these HERE .


If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:

📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.

Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!

* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!


Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )