A WIDOW has told how she was fleeced for £150,000 in a cruel two-year romance scam after losing her husband and son.
Kirsten Wood, 65, transferred large sums electronically to a hoaxer who preyed on her at her lowest ebb — and was then disowned by the rest of her family.
Les GallagherKirsten Wood who was scammed out of £150k[/caption]
Getty – ContributorShe joined a dating site after losing her husband[/caption]
AlamyCruel scammers took advantage of her[/caption]
GettyShe sent the cash using MoneyGram[/caption]
Les GallagherKirsten was left devastated after she learned she’d been scammed.[/caption]
It came after she sought friendship on a dating site a year after her husband Davie died suddenly at 52, and three years on from son David, 24, being killed in a car crash.
Now Kirsten, of Clarkston, near Glasgow, has been told she will never recoup her huge financial loss because she applied to her bank too long after the 2016 to 2017 fraud.
She told how she met Steve from Burnley online, and after three months of getting to know her he spun a web of sob stories.
She said: “I was in utter despair. Losing my son shattered my world.
“Davie and I had briefly separated but there was no animosity. I was heartbroken. I joined Match.com in 2016. Steve was the first person that came up.
“He seemed so genuine. He said he loved me and I was his soulmate.”
Kirsten added: “He told me his four-year-old son was having seizures and needed private medical care.
“Having lost my own son, I couldn’t bear to think of a child not getting the help he needed.
“I had some money left over from Davie’s pension, so I sent it to him.
“He then said he needed money to deal with legal issues after his dad passed away in Las Vegas.
“There were red flags, but I didn’t think twice.”
Kirsten, who sent cash via MoneyGram, told how she grew suspicious.
But when she confronted him he made threats in order to extort more.
She said: “He said he was from Burnley in England but his accent started to change.
“When I questioned him he then claimed he was from Nigeria and his real name was Uby Johnson.
“He said he had people watching me, and if I didn’t comply they would hurt me. One of my last transactions was more than £17,000.”
How to spot a romance scam
TO stop people falling victim to romance scams, police revealed the signs to look out for to help spot the scammers.
PROTECT YOUR INFO
Be wary of giving out personal information on a website or chatroom. Fraudsters will quickly contact you, often showing you glamorous photos of themselves and gaining your trust.
VAGUE INFO
A fraudster will make conversation more personal to get information out of you, but won’t tell you much about themselves that you can check or verify.
HIGH FLYERS
Romance fraudsters often claim to have high ranking roles that keep them away from home for a long time. This could be a ploy to deter your suspicions around not meeting in person.
DODGY SITES
Fraudsters will usually attempt to steer you away from chatting on a legitimate dating site that can be monitored. Stay on the platform that you started using initially, rather than switching to email, text or phone.
SOB STORIES
A fraudster may tell stories to target your emotions and get you to give them money.
They may claim they have an ill relative or are stranded in a country they don’t want to be in.
They may not ask you directly for money, hoping instead that you’ll offer it out of the goodness of your heart. Do not do this.
PRICEY PRESENTS
Sometimes the fraudsters will send the victim valuable items such as laptops, computers and mobile phones, asking them to resend them elsewhere.
They will invent a reason as to why they need the goods sent, but this may just be a way for them to cover up their criminal activity.
Alternatively they may ask a victim to buy the goods themselves and send them elsewhere.
MONEY PLOYS
Often, they will ask victims to accept money into their bank account and then transfer it to someone else using bank accounts, MoneyGram, Western Union, iTunes vouchers or other gift cards.
These scenarios are very likely to be forms of money laundering and you could be committing a criminal offence.
Source: Sussex Police
Mum-of-three Kirsten added: “I was going through a mental breakdown. I thought I would go to my grave and nobody would know anything.
“Eventually, I plucked up the courage to tell my kids.
“They persuaded me to stop sending him money and when I finally did, nothing came of the threats.”
But there was yet more heartache for Kirsten when her daughter Kimberley shunned her, then died in 2022 from a brain haemorrhage.
“I’ve lost my children, husband and my grandchildren.”
She said: “She was my best friend, but we never reconciled. I was not even allowed at her funeral.
“I’ve lost my children, husband and my grandchildren.”
Kirsten said: “I never considered compensation would be a possibility.
“I found out that I might be eligible, but because I hadn’t made a claim within six years of it happening, I was not within a ‘reasonable timeframe’.”
Santander said: “We take scams very seriously and always endeavour to support customers.
“Ms Wood reported it around eight years later and we do not have sufficient information on which transactions formed part of the scam to properly review this claim.”
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