A 71-year-old Bulls Gap woman told the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office last week she’d been bilked out of $18,000 by a man she was dating online who claimed he was coming to the United States from Nigeria to marry her.
The woman told HCSO Deputy Robert Rios that the man she was dating called himself Chad Crofoot who began asking her for money in November to pay for his trip to the U.S.
The woman stated she was eventually informed that Chad Crofoot had been arrested in Knox County. She began communicating with a person identifying herself as Kirstjen Nielson via text who stated that if the woman wanted to bail Crofoot out of jail she had to send them money.
“Over a period of time between November until January she has sent them different amounts of money using Apple Gift Cards, and taking pictures of the gift cards and receipt,” Rios stated in his report. “When that didn’t work they eventually convinced her to give them her bank account info, Social Security number, date of birth, a picture of her driver’s license, a picture of her signature, and a picture of her debit card front and back.”
Another person who identified himself as Donald Iden and claimed to be a colleague of Nielson repeatedly tryied to get the same info.
Rios added, “They used multiple phone numbers but never talked on the phone. She estimated a total of $18,000…
