Money Matters, Simplified.
48-year-old man loses $200,000 to fake online girlfriend
by Jaspreet Virk - February 28, 2011 - comments
The man had wired her “about $200,000 total to several different bank accounts in Nigeria, Malaysia, England and the United States, according to Chicago Sun Times.
For those who are into an online relationship and little laid back about the real identity of the person they are dating, time to wake up!
In what can be termed as another instance of internet crime, a man from Naperville, Illinois has been cheated of $200,000 by his virtual girlfriend.
The 48-year-old man from Naperville got a shock of his life after finding out the woman he dated for nearly two years actually did not exist.
How scam got revealed?
The incident came to light when the man sought assistance of Naperville police last Wednesday to track his girlfriend who, he believed, had been kidnapped somewhere in London, shortly after he had wired her $200,000.
There are no details of how the kidnapping story came up, but it helped the officials to put all the pieces together.
Explaining the police about the situation, the man said that he had been dating a women for more than 2 years. The two had met on the internet and struck up a relationship.
When asked for woman's picture, the 48-year-old provided the copy of her driver's license. To the man's shock, the identity turned out to be sample driver's license from Florida.
Man cheated of $200,000 in disbelief
It is sad that the online relation did not work for the man, but what's worse is that he lost money to woman who actually did not exist.
The incident came to light when the man sought the assistance of Naperville police last Wednesday to track his girlfriend who, he believed had been kidnapped somewhere in London, shortly after he had wired her $200,000.
The man had wired her “about $200,000 total to several different bank accounts in Nigeria, Malaysia, England and the United States, according to Chicago Sun Times.
The police said that when they told the man that the woman he had sent money to did not exist, he was “in disbelief.”
Questions raised
The incident raises many questions. Some might wonder why the man never bothered to meet her at any point of affair.
Further, why would someone send significant amount of money to a person he has never met, and that too at several banks in different countries.
Some might even think why the scammer ruined his lucrative business with a silly kidnapping story when he could have raked in more money.
May be it is a big racket, running in different countries.