A case of love scamming also happened in Lindhorst in the Schaumburg district: In February, a 67-year-old man from Lindhorst met a woman who supposedly came from Ghana via the social media platform Facebook. The two apparently got to know each other better in various chats on Facebook and later also on the messenger WhatsApp.

The great love? Not even close!

The lady, who called herself Jennifer, confessed her love to the 67-year-old after a relatively short time. Sentences like “I love you” or “I adore you” were often heard from her. She also expressed her wish to travel to Germany to visit him one day.

As the process progressed, Jennifer convinced Lindhorster to send her his personal data so that she could order goods for herself from German online shops that she could not buy in Africa.

The man also could not absolve himself of flirting. In good faith, he sent her photos of his ID card and allowed her to open customer accounts in his name at several online shops. He then received goods worth almost 800 euros. Jennifer assured him that she would pay for the goods as soon as he sent them to her in Ghana. The 67-year-old then invested a good 50 euros in shipping costs and sent all the goods to an address in Ghana.

After the package arrived, Jennifer ordered various goods again on the Internet and had them sent to Lindhorst. She again asked the man to send them to her. At the same time, the first reminder letters arrived from the online shops where she had already ordered. The Lindhorst man became suspicious and sent the goods back to the mail order companies. He decided to break off contact with the woman and report the fraud to the local police.

“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?

To protect yourself from this form of fraud, the Nienburg/Schaumburg police station gives you the following information:

  • 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!

Further information about this form of fraud can also be found on the Internet at www.polizei-beratung.de .
We have also written numerous articles on the subject of love and romance scamming. You can find these HERE .

Source: Press portal


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