The Cologne police have arrested a man who probably acted as an accomplice. This is a so-called “love scamming” case!
With the so-called scam, which goes by the terms romance or love scamming, perpetrators, mostly operating abroad, repeatedly try to deceive lonely women in particular into believing they are in love and cheat them out of their money. We have been reporting on this topic for years. Now the Cologne police report
Love on the Internet: “Charming” American falls head over heels in love… with the money of a woman (52) from the Celle district
Thanks to the 52-year-old's timely reporting, the Cologne police temporarily arrested a suspected accomplice (24) of the alleged American on Thursday.
This was preceded by an alleged love affair. Back in November, a previously unidentified man wrote to the woman via Facebook and tried to wrap her around his finger. Compliments, declarations of love followed - even a marriage proposal.
After he asked for a larger sum of money for an alleged operation on his son, the 52-year-old lost trust and filed a complaint. From this point on, the criminal investigation department was 'part' of the 'love affair'.
Finally, the 'charmer' asked the woman to give him a five-figure sum. For the handover, the woman arranged to meet an alleged acquaintance of the 'fiancé' at the chocolate museum in Cologne - the investigators also came.
The Criminal Investigation Department 33 has started the investigation. The man temporarily arrested will be brought before a magistrate today.
The police strongly advise never to make transfers or hand over money to strangers
Mimikama information
Romance or love scamming. Fraudsters are targeting the following target group on Facebook:
- Female Facebook profiles
- Single
- Middle-aged (very young women do not yet have financial resources)
An exact personal description of the fraudsters is not possible, but certain basic criteria are similar:
- Age-appropriate to the victim
- Specification of a professional activity in middle management
- Divorced, but widowed much more often
- Caring for school-age children alone
- On Facebook: Profile not particularly informative and no postings
- Ostensibly empathetic
And this is how they do it:
- Initial contact via message. All communication is in English.
- Profile picture: not unattractive appearance, but not an “Adonis” either.
- Report-like CV, e.g. B. “My parents died in an accident, my wife died in the birth of our child.”
- Questioning the targeted victim (= looking for weaknesses).
- Vows of love that no real man would utter sober.
- A sudden event occurs, e.g. B. “Pirates are coming” (= most bizarre version). However, the story is often still coherent as a reason for the resulting emergency...
- Request for a financial loan (amount in the four-digit euro range) using massive, emotional pressure and presenting so-called “evidence” as a file.
- After receiving the money – money gone and of course an unknown admirer too.
What can I do if someone like that writes to me?
Unfortunately, this form of fraud is something of a “gray area” from a legal perspective.
Unfortunately, the damage that such a fraudster can cause is currently difficult to repair in practice, which is why you should take a close look at your potential Internet love interests.
- Don't give out too much information about yourself
- Don't accept suspicious friend requests
- If it has already happened: Hide your own contacts
- Be careful with information about yourself: you don't tell your customers your fears, dreams, family situation, etc. in front of the checkout if they ask.
- Distrust is appropriate when the unfamiliar person uses nicknames and the term “love” relatively quickly
- For the brave: shorten the whole thing and either announce your own arrival or immediately ask how much money you need!
- For the sensible: block
If just one woman is protected from harm, our efforts are worth it.
Mimikama result
Never transfer money to someone you have never met or seen in person! Internet acquaintances who ask for money or make other demands over time are always suspicious. Your gut feeling usually tells you right from the start if something has a dubious aftertaste.
If necessary, break off contact IMMEDIATELY. Even if it is very difficult to prosecute such fraudsters because they usually operate from abroad, victims should report it to the police.
Source: Cologne Police
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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 )

