In November 2019, a Kirkwood resident met someone online while playing a cell phone game. A relationship blossomed. Soon, the resident was giving money to someone she had only met virtually.
By the time she realized her “friend” might be taking advantage of her, she had already transferred over $600,000. She called the Kirkwood Police Department on Nov. 17, 2021 — two years after “meeting” the individual. Police confirmed what the woman was dreading — she was the victim of an elaborate romance scam.
Her story is not an isolated incident. On Oct. 6, 2020, another Kirkwood woman transferred $18,000 to her grandson who’d been in an accident in Mexico, only to realize her grandson was safe and sound in the United States. On Oct. 2, 2021, a Webster Groves Resident reported she was scammed out of $67,000 by someone who told her she’d won the lottery. On Dec. 2, 2021, a St. Louis woman lost $2,200 when she tried to rent a Glendale property advertised in a fake Facebook…
