Romance scams are a sophisticated type of fraud – with criminals preying on the emotional vulnerability of the victim and building trust with them before attempting to access their money
Image: Tom Maddick SWNS)
Fraudsters are using photos of a European defence minister to trick unsuspecting women out of tens of thousands of pounds on online dating apps.
The Latvian Defence Office has issued an alert after it uncovered more than 100 fake profiles, all posing as the country’s defence minister and deputy Prime Minister Artis Pabriks online.
One scammer, posing as “Murphy Townsend” but using the Latvian minister’s photo, tricked mum-of-two Sharon Bulmer out of £86,000.
The fraudster initially messaged Ms Bulmer from Manchester on Facebook in May 2020 saying he was “lonely”.
He claimed he was a US soldier whose wife had passed away and over the course of two years asked for financial help to leave Syria and visit her.
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Image:
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ms Bulmer eventually ended her relationship with her partner of 29 years in order to start a new life with Mr Townsend, and sent nearly £80,000 in gradual payments for “hospital bills” and “plane tickets”.
Ms Bulmer, who is now £37,000 in debt, sent the money in Bitcoin.
She said: “He asked me to help me and I did, but it’s got me into huge…
